Play Date
by F.A. Star Hawk
Summary: Starts off pre-series, will go to the Christmas Bowl. Kobayakawa Mihae wants to help Sena make some friends, so she tries the only way she knows how. Setting up play-dates.
1. Chapter 1

FASH: Reading Week is here and with it is some free time, yay! Alright, this fic takes place when Sena is just about to finish his first year of middle school (Grade Seven) so he would be thirteen. I'm not sure if there's going to be any football later on in this fic, so we'll just say it's slightly AU just in case.

Disclaimer: My name is not Riichiro Inagaki or Yusuke Murata.

""-speech

''-thoughts

Kobayakawa Mihae pursed her lips together tightly as she waited by the door for Sena to come home. She was once again filled with the suspicion that not only would he be back ten minutes or so later than usual, but that he'd have a couple bruises and scrapes that hadn't been there that morning.

"He's just a kid, maybe he's just playing around with his friends." Kobayakawa Shuma said in a calming manner, tensing a bit when his wife turned to face him.

"Shuma, you know as well as I do that Sena hasn't made any real friends in middle school. In elementary school he had Mamori-chan, and for a couple weeks he had Riku-kun. But once they both were gone he's been all alone." She crossed her arms, glaring at the door. "I've gone to school multiple times to speak with his teachers, but they say that they do all they can to stop the other kids from making him run errands for them." She snorted in a very un-lady-like way and Shuma gently placed his hands on her shoulders in an attempt to calm her down.

"I'm sure they are doing everything they can. But if, for instance, someone made Sena do their share of cleanup after school and tell Sena that if the teacher asks, say that he's doing it willingly, what can they do?" "A lot more than they are doing! And once Sena steps off of school property he's no longer a student to be looked after to them, he's just another kid. I know that he hasn't really been physically bullied badly, just pushed around a bit, but..." She turned to face him and rested her head on his shoulder, anger mostly gone and replaced by weariness.

"He needs a friend Shuma, he's such a nice boy too, I can't believe he's almost finished his first year of middle school and he still hasn't made a single friend." "Now now, you don't know that for sure." Mihae sighed. "But for some reason I just feel it, it must be my intuition as a mother. He hardly talks to us about school, let alone about his classmates..." Her head snapped up. "I just thought of something!" Shuma rose an eyebrow. "What." "All we need to do is find him some friends who aren't his classmates! Give him a fresh start!" "And how exactly do you propose we do that?" Shuma asked a bit nervously, there was a strange gleam in his wife's eyes that made him feel rather unsettled.

"I've got plenty of friends from highschool that I've kept in touch with and some of them have children around Sena's age! All I need to do is call them up and-" She paused when the door opened.

"I'm home." Sena said softly, looking at his parents curiously, they hardly ever waited around the front door for him to get home. 'I wonder if today is a special occasion?'

"Welcome home Sena." Mihae said as she walked towards her son, ruffling his hair gently as her eyes keenly searched for any visible sign that Sena had been bullied. "How was school today?" "Oh, the usual." Sena replied, carefully avoiding his mothers eyes and focusing on his feet instead.

Mihae sighed and took a step back. "And how did you do on that math test today?" She questioned, immediately knowing the answer when Sena tensed nervously and paled.

"Study harder for the next one, and in the meantime, go and wash yourself up for supper." She said before strolling away, heading straight for the phone in the kitchen.

'Who should I call up first? Hmmm. Someone fairly close to Sena's age who'd be nice to him and play with him, and maybe if they were intelligent and could help him study...' She bit her lip as she tried to remember all of things her friends had told her about their children. 'Apparently Usagi-chan's boy has been doing very well during his last year of middle school and the last time I saw him he was so polite and sweet, I'm sure he'd be the perfect one to start Sena off with.' She smiled gleefully as she dialed the number.

"Hello Usagi-chan, it's Mihae, I was wondering if I could ask you a favor..."

Sena had noticed something odd in the way his parents had seen him off to school that morning. His mother was brimming with an excited energy that seemed to be rubbing off on his father as she told him to come home quickly after school was over.

'They were acting weird when I came home yesterday to, I wonder what's happening?' He thought to himself as he glanced around the classroom. School was almost over and if he packed up and got out of the classroom quick enough he'd be able to leave before anyone _requested_ his help in cleaning up the classroom.

As soon as the bell rang he shot out of his seat and ran, dodging and running around other students in a way that surely would have made Riku proud if he had been there to see it.

He made it home in record time and burst through the door, half expecting to see the shoes of one of his relatives sitting in the entryway and was slightly surprised to see that only the usual shoes were there.

"Ah Sena, wonderful you're just on time, they should be here any minute!" His mother exclaimed as she walked towards him with a large smile.

"Who's going to be here any minute?" Sena asked, suddenly feel nervous, his mother never smiled that widely unless she was up to something.

"Well, the truth is I set up a play-date for you with one of my friend's children, he's such a nice boy, I'm sure you'll have a whole bunch of fun together!" Mihae said so excitedly and so happily that Sena couldn't help but smile thankfully even though on the inside he was filled with anxiety.

Children always acted nicer around grownups after all...

He tensed a bit when there was a knock on the door and chose to cling to the fabric of his mothers dress as she opened it, hiding himself behind her leg.

"Usagi-chan! It's been to long since I've seen you face to face. And Takami-kun, you've grown so much since I saw you last time." Sena dared to peek out from behind his mother's leg, biting his lip nervously.

The boy in the doorway was very tall, at least a head taller than Sena if not more so, he stood confidently, with his legs planted firmly on the ground and his hands clasped behind his back.

Suddenly his mother's hand was pushing him forward. "Sena, say hello to Usagi-san and Takami-san." She said softly and Sena bowed lowly. "He-hello!"

Usagi, a willowy woman with long dark hair and sparkling eyes laughed a bit before bowing her head, Takami following her lead. "We're very pleased to meet you Sena-kun."

"I'm sorry for asking this so soon before the high school entrance exams." "Oh don't worry, Oujou's an elevator system, Takami just has some end of the year unit tests, but nothing he can't handle." The two women smiled at each other before turning around.

"Sena, Usagi-san and I are going to go out for a while okay?" She crouched down to look into her son's eyes. "And your father should be home in a couple hours, so be on your best behavior for Takami-san okay?" Sena nodded, watching with desperation as his mother walked straight out the door, leaving him alone in his house with a perfect stranger who was taller, bigger, stronger and, apparently, smarter than him.

'Please please please don't be mean.' Sena thought as he turned to nervously look at the tall boy, giving him a small smile and nearly sighing in relief when his smile was returned without any sort of malice.

"So Sena-kun, what would you like to do today?" Takami asked gently as he slowly moved forward, his mother had told him to be extra cautious around Sena for some reason, her exact words were something along the lines of 'treat him like a frightened mouse' he hadn't really understood why at first, but he had a fairly good idea now.

Sena had just turned thirteen in December, usually by that age most children would be trying to prove their independence to their parents. Independent children didn't cling to their mothers when strangers came to visit.

'I wonder if he's just not good around people he hasn't met before.'

"Umm, what would I like to do?" Sena asked shyly and Takami nodded. "Yes, what do you normally do with your friends?"

The older boy inwardly frowned when Sena paused and blushed, apparently at a loss for words.

"Sena-kun, do you..." Takami paused, trying not to make his next words sound too harsh. "Have any friends?"

"Of course I do!" Sena said quickly and although Takami didn't really believe him he nodded in understanding anyways. "Of course, of course. Did you want to play a board game?" Sena shuffled his feet against the floor nervously.

"Takami-san is in his third year, right?" "Yes." "Then, do you think you could help me with my homework? And study for my next math test?" Takami blinked, when his mother had burst into his room last night telling him he had a play-date with the younger son of one of her friends he'd assumed that he'd be stuck playing hide and seek or tag for a couple hours straight.

"Sure, I'd love to help you."He said, smiled widening slightly when Sena happily grabbed his backpack and lead him up to his room.

"Mom and dad keep on promising me that if I ever get a ninety percent on a math test they'll get me a kitty as a present. But I always barely pass... I think they made it so high because neither of them like cats. I try and study hard, but I just don't get it and I don't see Mamori-neechan very much anymore so I can't ask her about it." Sena said sulkily before brightening up. "But maybe Takami-san can help me get my kitty!"

"Well, I'll try and teach you to the best of my ability." Takami replied as both of them sat down on the floor of Sena's room. "But I don't think you're going to get a ninety percent after studying with me just once." "Oh. I guess you're right." Sena sighed a bit and for some reason Takami felt horrible for saying that.

"In any case, I'll help explain some things to you, and as long as you understand and are able to follow along with what goes on in your class, I'm sure you'll start getting better marks."

Sena's smile came back, brighter than ever as he pulled out his notebooks and textbooks. "Math is my worst subject, but my English isn't much better, which one do you wanna help me with first?" He asked excitedly.

"Let's go with English first."

Mihae and Usagi were surprised to come back to a silent house. "Do you think they went to the park?" Usagi asked and Mihae shrugged her shoulders. "Sena! Takami-kun! Are you here?!"

"We're in my room!" Came a muffled yell from upstairs and both women walked towards the direction of the voice.

"Sena, why are you in here when you could be playing outside?" Mihae asked as she opened the door, eyes widening a bit at the sight in front of her.

Sena, willingly doing homework? She had wanted to have someone help him study, but she hadn't expected him to look happy while doing it.

"Takami-san is explaining a bunch of stuff for me mom! Pretty soon you're going to have to get me my kitty at this rate!" Sena exclaimed happily and Mihae smiled. "Oh, is that so? Maybe he'll be a good role model for you now that you don't see Mamori-chan very often." She then directed her smile at Takami. "Takami-kun, would you like to come back and help Sena again sometime?"

"I would love to."

When it was time for the pair to leave Sena had given Takami a hug which both their mothers cooed at. "Thank you for helping me study Takami-san." "No problem Sena-kun, and you don't have to refer to me as 'Takami-san'." The brunette gazed up at him shyly. "Takami... Niichan?" The older boy smiled broadly and nodded. "That's better, but you can call me Ichirou if you like." Sena blsuhed and shook his head and the older boy chuckled a bit. "Takami–niichan it is then. See you later Sena-kun, Kobayakawa-san." He bowed to both of them before following his mother out the door.

"Well, aren't you happy that I set up a play-date for you?" Mihae asked her son who nodded enthusiastically.

"When can I study with Takami-niichan again?" "Well, he's going to have a lot of tests soon, so not for a while I suppose."

Sena visibly deflated.

"But don't worry, tomorrow I'll call up some of my other friends and I'll set up another play-date for the day afterwards, would you like that Sena?" The brunette nodded shyly.

"Good, now I'd better start making supper, you're father should be home any minute, do you want to help?"

"Sure!"


	2. Chapter 2

FASH: Woo-hoo, another chapter is up. :)

""-speech

''-thoughts

Sena tapped the end of his pencil against his desk impatiently as he stared at the clock, inwardly willing time to go by faster.

'I wonder who I get to play with today?' At first he'd been very wary about the whole 'play-date' idea, but Takami had been nice to him and so surely whoever he was going to be with today would be nice too, right?

So just like he had the day before yesterday he began packing up a minute before the bell, springing out of his seat as soon as it rang and making his way out the door before any of his other classmates.

Life, for the first time in a while, was good. He was following along with what his teachers said in English and Math class better, yesterday he was able to do his homework without asking his parents for help, and today he was going to be able to play around with a couple of new friends after school. That's right, today he wasn't just going to meet one new potential friend, he was going to meet _two_.

Kongo Unsui and Kongo Agon, a pair of twins that were in their second year of middle school. And if they both were as nice to him as Takami was then Sena was sure he'd have loads of fun over at their house. When he arrived at home he put his school supplies in his room and changed out of his school uniform, throwing anything that looked comfortable on before rushing downstairs and excitedly asking his mother if it was time to leave.

"Yes, yes, we'll leave in just a minute Sena, remember to have patience." She smiled down at him, overjoyed at how excited Sena appeared to be.

They took the train to get to the Kongo abode, Sena sat on the edge of the seat and swung his legs back and forth excitedly. 'I hope they're as nice as Takami-niichan.'

Little did Sena know that only one of the twins would live up to his expectations.

When they got off at their stop it was only a ten minute walk until they reached the front door of the Kongo household which his mother knocked on in a pattern of quick, gentle taps. The door opened moments after the knocking had ceased and a woman with very dark eyes and hair greeted them.

"Mihae, it's been far too long." The woman said as she gracefully strode forward and enveloped the other woman in a hug. "Oh well, we can make up for all the lost time today." Mihae grinned as she stepped out of the embrace to tap at Sena's shoulder.

Sena smiled brightly as he took a step forward, bowing lowly to the woman in front of him.

"How do you do, I'm Kobayakawa Sena." The woman clasped her hands together and moved to the side so she wasn't blocking the door. "Aw, what a sweetheart, I'm Kongo Yomi, and just inside are my twos sons, the one with the bleached hair is Agon, the other one is Unsui." She gestured inside the door and the two of them bowed politely and Sena immediately reciprocated the gesture.

Yomi hooked arms with Mihae and they began making their way off the property. "Bye Sena! Have fun!" "Bye boys, and Agon, play nice."Yomi threw a hardly noticeable glare over her shoulder before Sena walked into the house and shut the door.

"Che, why do I have to take care of some kid." Agon muttered darkly, the facade of a polite young boy vanishing instantly. "Agon, don't be rude." Unsui whispered furiously before turning back to Sena with a small smile glued in place.

"Don't mind Agon, we're very happy to have you over." Agon snorted and ran a hand through his bleached hair before making his way to the door, glaring at Sena as he passed.

"Agon, where are you going?!" "Wherever the fuck I want." Agon replied before slamming the door shut.

Sena shivered, that guy was even scarier than the bullies at his school.

"You'll have to forgive Agon for being so rude, he just doesn't like anyone." Unsui said, coming forward and resting his hands on Sena's shoulders. "So, that would you like to do?"

Sena shifted his weight from one foot to the other nervously. "Uh, what would you like to do?"

"Well, we've got a lot of board games, do you want to play one of those?" Sena nodded slowly. "Alright, I'll go grab a couple and you can make your way to mine and Agon's room, just go down that hallway, second door on he left." "O-okay."

Sena made his way towards the room, shuffling his feet and cautiously opening the door and crack and peering inside before opening it all the way and switching on the light.

It was a fairly large room with dark blue walls and two beds, one with a grey comforter and one with a red one, on either side with a large night stand between them that had two reading lamps and an alarm clock and there was a large dresser against the wall near the foot of the red bed.

'I wonder what it's like to have a twin...' Sena thought to himself as he glanced at the beds, not quite sure if he should sit on either one in case he sat on Agon's and ended up messing up the covers.

So he sat on the floor, in front of the night stand, patiently waiting for Unsui to come back with the board games.

"Okay, I've got Snakes and Ladders, Battleship and Monopoly, which one would you rather play?" Unsui asked as he walked into the room, closing the door behind him with his foot.

"Snakes and Ladders I guess..."

They were in the middle of what seemed to be a never-ending game of Snakes and Ladders when Agon burst into the room, a grin on his face.

"Did something good happen while you were out?" Unsui asked, moving his piece five spaces forward, frowning when he landed on yet another snake while Sena just tried to ignore the younger twin's presence all together.

Agon fell back onto the red bed. "I think I'm going to join the baseball team next semester." He stated, Unsui turned to look at him, eyebrows raised. "Didn't you like soccer this year?" "Ha, as if. Everyone was complete trash but me and every time we went up against a tough team they always made me be the goalie because of my reflexes." Agon glared up a the ceiling darkly. "No one cares about the fucking goalie!"

During Agon's mini rant Sena had rolled the die and moved three spaces forward, smiling when he landed on a ladder.

"Sakura-chan liked it when you were the goalie." "I went out with her ages ago, her opinion doesn't matter anymore. Besides, the ladies love baseball players-" Unsui rolled the die and moved six spaces forward. "I saw a game going on at the park and a whole bunch of girls were there." Agon grinned. "I've even got a date with one of them tomorrow night." He suddenly frowned and turned to look at Sena who froze in the middle of moving his piece.

"Hey kid, when's your mom coming to pick you up, hasn't he babysat you enough?" He asked rudely, jerking his thumb at Unsui.

"Agon, mom told you to _play nice_."

Sena bit his lip and moved his piece the remaining two spaces. "I win." He said quietly, hoping that either the tension in the room would dissolve or that his mother would burst through the door and take him home.

Neither happened.

A scary smiled started to grow on Agon's face. "Hey kid, wanna do me a favor?" Sena, who was used to being asked that type of question and knew answering 'no' meant pain, nodded.

"Agon, whatever it is, don't even think about it." Unsui said as he folded the board and began putting it back in it's box while Agon pouted rather childishly.

"But it's only fair, we're taking care of him and not even getting paid for it."

"_You_ haven't done anything to 'take care of me.'" Sena muttered, only realizing he'd spoken out load when he looked up tp find Agon glaring down at him darkly.

'Uh-oh.'

"You know what kid, for some reason, you really piss me off." He said before darting forward and grabbing a hold of Sena's hair, wrenching Sena's face upwards and ignoring Unsui's demands to let Sena go.

"You ought to learn not to talk out of turn, or there'll be hell to pay." He said lowly, yanking Sena's hair once more before stomping out of the room.

"Are you alright?" Unsui asked gently as he tenderly rubbed the crown of Sena's head, Sena shook his head no, tears welling up in his eyes.

"You'll have to forgive Agon, he's got a short fuse." "W-w-why do I have to f-forgive him? Why are y-you making up excuses for him?" Unsui sighed. "Because he's my younger brother and even if he sometimes deserves it, I don't want anyone to hate him."

Sena looked up and smiled weakly. "You're a good big brother Unsui-san." The older boy smiled. "I try."

Afterwards the two began to play a card game that Sena could not for the life of him remember the name of, playing undisturbed until their mothers came home.

"Sena, did you have a good time?" His mother asked and Sena nodded his head, not trusting himself to speak.

"Are you sure? If Agon didn't play nice I can discipline him for you." Yomi said, throwing a look over at her blonde son who was leaning against a wall, flipping through a sports magazine.

"No, it's fine, we got along great." Sena lied smoothly before turning to face the brothers.

"Goodbye Unsui-san, Agon-san." He said before moving to his mother's side. "Goodbye Kongo-san." "Goodbye sweetie, bye Mihae-chan."

On the ride home his mother asked him many questions which he answered with half truths or full out lies, he new better than to tattle-tale on someone who could easily get him back for it.

'Unsui-san was nice but distant and Agon-san terrifies me.' One thing was for sure. 'I never want a play-date with them again.' Because having to deal with Agon was too tough even if Unsui was there.

'Actually, to be on the safe side I shouldn't let mom arrange any more play-dates with people neither of us know.' He nodded to himself, satisfied. 'No more play-dates with anyone other than Takami-niichan, ever.'


	3. Chapter 3

FASH: I'm going to go see The Spiderwick Chronicles with my little sister today, Freddie Highmore is such an adorable kid...

""-speech

''-thoughts

Mihae frowned solemnly, Sena had seemed a bit skittish after his last play date, even going so far as to insist that he could wait until Takami got settled in high school for his next one.

'But Yomi's boys seemed so sweet, did they just play with Sena a bit too roughly?' She really hoped that was the case, she didn't have many friends with children close to Sena's age, most of them were a fair amount older or younger.

'Sena insists that he doesn't need anyone to play with, but I hate it when he closes himself off in his room to play video games. He needs someone to play with him more gently, but Mamori-chan is busy with school and her clubs...' Her thoughts drifted off as Sena walked into the kitchen, grabbing a glass from the cupboard and opening the fridge.

"Sena, I know you said you don't need to meet up with anyone until Takami-kun gets used to high school, but are you really sure about that?" Sena poured himself a glass of juice, taking a sip before answering.

"I'm sure mom, I can wait a couple weeks." "Did Agon-kun play nice with you, I remember Yomi saying he was a bit feisty." Sena tensed and Mihae immediately knew the answer was a resounding yes.

"Unsui-san was nice to me." He said in a small voice. "Agon-san just didn't want to play with a kid like me." "Aw, I'm sorry sweetie, next time I'll be sure to-" "You really don't have to find anyone else mom." He finished his juice and set the empty glass down beside the sink. "I'm sure that between Mamori-neechan and Takami-niichan I'll have plenty of fun, and they both can help me study and get my kitty." Sena smiled brightly. "Besides... I have friends in school." He finished somewhat nervously before scurrying out of the kitchen and up the stairs back to his room.

Mihae bit her bottom lip, wanting so badly to call up one of her friends and ask them if she could borrow their children for a bit.

'At least the school year will be over soon and then there's a break before the next semester, maybe I could get Takami-kun or Mamori-chan to come over sometime then?'

Not even a week later Sena was home alone, his father at work and his mother shopping, when he heard a knock on the door. At first he attempted to ignore it until the raps against the doorframe began forming a familiar pattern.

He ran to the door and flung it open with a cry of: "Mamori-neechan!" "Hello Sena, miss me?" She took a step forward and hugged him. "Of course I've missed you! Come in! Come in!"

Mamori stepped into the house and closed the door behind her, slipping off her shoes.

"Sena, I've been meaning to ask you-" She was interrupted by a couple firm knocks on the door. "You weren't expecting anyone were you?" She asked, hand already turning the handle and pushing the door open, blinking curiously at the tall boy on the other side.

"Ah! Takami-niichan! Why are you here?" Sena questioned curiously from behind Mamori.

"Well, I thought I could pay you a visit since I have some free time." Takami adjusted his glasses and crouched down. "So, how have your grades been? Any closer to getting your kitten?" "Well, they've gotten better, but not by much." Sena admitted as he stared at the ground, Takami smiled lightly and stood up, setting his eyes on Mamori.

"I'm Takami Ichiro, it's a pleasure to meet you." He bowed forward and the gesture was mirrored by Mamori. "Anezaki Mamori, the pleasure's all mine." She straightened herself up, eyes taking in every detail of the boy in front of her, lingering on the uniform that she knew was from an elite high school.

"So, how exactly do you know Sena?" "Well you see..."

One summed up explanation later found the three of them comfortably lounging around in the living room, Sena twiddling his thumbs as Mamori congratulated him on making a new friend. "And he's even someone who can help you with your studying and homework." She exclaimed happily, clapping her hands together. "Your mother comes up with some great ideas." She smiled brightly at Takami and bowed. "Thank you for taking care of Sena." "It's no problem, he's a good kid." Sena blushed lightly at the compliment.

A comfortable silence followed until Mamori sprung up suddenly, turning to face Sena so fast you'd think she'd get whiplash.

"Sena!" "Y-Yes?" "I meant to ask you before, you haven't been bullied lately have you?" Takami straightened his impeccable posture a bit. "Bullies?" He asked, fixing his gaze on Sena.

The brunette gulped nervously as two pairs of eyes stared at him, demanding some sort of answer.

"W-well, you know, they're not really bullies per say..." "What does that mean?" Takami questioned at the same time Mamori asked. "You mean you're still being a gopher for the tougher kids?" She leaned in closely, her lips pressed firmly together.

"I don't mind Mamori-neechan, I mean, as long as I do what they say they don't hurt me." Takami leaned forward on his seat. "Sena, how do you-" "I'm back!" Sena's mother called out. "Sena, who's over?" "Mamori-neechan and Takami-niichan." He shouted back, thankful for the slight distraction.

"Really?" Mihae strutted into the room with a large smile on her face. "Mamori-chan, Takami-kun, how are you today?" "Fine, thank you." They answered in unison, both of them smiling brightly at Sena's mother.

'Woah, now that I've seen them together I realize how freakishly similar they are...'Sena blinked at them as they made small talk with his mother politely and a warm smile grew on his face. As long as Mamori and Takami were his friends he really didn't need anyone else, even if he couldn't see them very often because they were in different schools. He allowed himself to sick further into the cushions of the couch as his mother asked if they needed anything.

After a couple minutes of idol chit chat Sena's mother went to the kitchen to put away the groceries and Sena could feel they pairs of eyes slowly coming to rest on his unmoving form.

Takami was leaning forward again. "Where was I... Oh yes, Sena, how do you know they won't hurt you if you do what they say?"

"I already told you it's not like they hurt me or anything-" 'Unless they accidentally push me into a wall too hard.' "And I'm already used to this way of life, there's no point trying to change it." He let out a sigh. "Besides, they really would start bulling me if I actually defied them, being their gopher keeps me relatively safe."

Takami and Mamori exchanged carful glances before Mamori leaned forward, her voice very soft and hardly above a whisper. "Sena, we don't want you to be used to that type of life and we don't go to the same school so I can't protect you anymore. But I really, really want you to try and stand up for yourself okay?" "Well, I don't really know for sure but I figure I get hurt less this way. Besides, I don't mind doing their classroom chores and stuff, it's not like I have anything better to do."

Takami and Mamori shared a look and Sena couldn't but think. 'Not only are they freakishly similar, they also seem to share a telepathic connection.'

"Sena, you have to start standing up for yourself or you'll end up doing chores by yourself for the rest of middle school." Mamori chided and Sena crossed his arms, pouting. "I don't stay after school doing chores all the time." Mamori gave him a look that clearly said 'oh really?'

"I avoided doing it on the days mom arranged the play dates because I didn't want to be late." He said almost regretfully, he knew where this conversation was going to go now.

"Well, don't you think that those are a pretty good solution to this problem then?" Mamori asked in a motherly voice and Sena quickly shook his head. "Why not?" "... No reason in particular..." Mamori sighed. "Alright, then just try to stand up for yourself a bit more okay?"

"Okay, I'll try." Sena lied smoothly without feeling much remorse about it, he highly doubted Mamori or Takami had ever had this type of problem and knew that trying to explain the situation would only make them more worried about it.

'It's not a big deal.' He told himself, not quite sure if he was being truthful. 'I'm used to it, so it's just easier for me to keep going on like this.'

An hours or so later both Mamori and Takami had made their way home, both seemingly satisfied with Sena's 'resolution' to stand up for himself. Ha.

He solemnly stared at the television screen as he expertly handled the video game controller. He was finally fighting the final boss and could afford no lapses in concentration.

"SENA!" His mother burst through the door excitedly and Sena flinched out of reflex, accidentally walking right into the final boss's biggest attack.

'I... I died?' "Sena, tomorrow is you're first day of your second year in middle school, what would you like for lunch?" "Uhhh... Anything's fine mom." Sena said as he stared at the red flashing text the declared the game was over.

"Aw, don't be like that! I'll make you anything you want." "Um, can I have croquettes then?" A wide smile broke out on Mihae's face. "Of course sweetie." She gazed at him for a few long moments before rushing forward and clasped his head gently between her hands and Eskimo kiss. "Ah, my little baby's finally going into grade eight!" "M-Mom!" Sena vainly tried to escape his mother's iron grip without much luck. "Oh, let me have my fun." She cooed at him before letting his face go.

"Dinner will be ready in about twenty minutes, okay." She called back to him as she exited his room and Sena nodded before turning back to the screen and sighing. 'Back to square one.'

His second year was shaping up to be very similar to his first, not all of the classmates who picked on him were in his class now, but a couple still remained and he could practically feel their stares stabbing into him.

Apparently they didn't like how he had skipped out on them and made them clean up by themselves after class on the days where he'd gone home quickly for his play-dates and were in the mood to make him pay for it.

'Ah well, they'll probably just get me to run a couple more errands than usual, it's nothing I can't handle.' He thought to himself as he took out his math textbook and began following along with the teacher, frowning ever so slightly.

Just when he'd started getting used to the math he was learning they start teaching him a bunch of new stuff, school sucked. Still, he took notes and followed along dutifully knowing full well that if he ever had any problems there was now another person he could go to for help.

School sucked, but life in general was pretty good as long as he ignored the looks being sent his way by his 'good friends.'

And then school was out, and without even realizing what was going on he had become cornered in the empty classroom while he was packing up his math notes. So now he was stuck between two walls and three fairly large bodies that were blocking his escape route.

He really should have expected this to happen, even if only a couple of his bullies were in the same class they were the most persistent of the lot, the most violent, lazy and easy to anger too.

A fear that had been sleeping undisturbed inside of him since he found out he'd never have to be around Agon again suddenly awoke with vigor.

Sure Agon was the scariest person Sena had the displeasure of meeting, but at least there was only one of him.

"Hey Sena, there's a couple things me and the guys wanna talk to you about." The self proclaimed 'leader' of the group said as he cracked his knuckles and puffed out his chest and even though Sena was sure that he would never dare to actually punch him the nervousness he felt was still there.

If Riku was still here he'd want Sena to run away as quick as he could and damn the consequences, but Sena was of the pessimistic sort and felt that if he ran away now after these guys specifically told him they wanted to 'talk' to him, there would be hell to pay.

And so after a rather short and one sided conversation and a light smack upside the head he ended up staying after class cleaning his home room as the other boys sat around reading manga and carrying all of their bags home. Thanks God it seemed like none of them bothered bringing their texts books to school, he definitely wouldn't have been able to carry the load other wise.

Unfortunately his late arrival home with 'no explanation' was something that put his mother on edge.

"No matter what you say I know what's going on Sena. I know and I want to help, please let me help." She asked as she settled her hands on his shoulders and looked down at him with large pleading eyes that made Sena feel as though he'd be the worst son on the face of the Earth if he denied her anything.

His resolve, which he had tried to defend incessantly, cracked. And so with a sigh he caved in.

'I suppose just as long as I never have to be with anyone like Agon-san again, I'll be fine.'


	4. Chapter 4

FASH: In the English version for Eyeshield 21 Shin's voice actor is the same person who does Alucard in Hellsing! Oh my God! Everyone else is kind of medocre/iffy and they don't pronounce some names right but Shin makes it worth it! Makes me wanna write a fic where Shin is a vampire. Awesomely epic!

""-speech

''-thoughts

Sena pouted a bit as he got ready for school the next morning. Apparently his mother was expecting him to cave into her will because not even five minutes after he agreed she had set something up.

With a girl.

Sena was going to be playing with a girl. Mamori was one thing, they'd known each other since before they could remember, but Sena didn't want to be stuck playing with dolls or whatever it was girls did when they were around his age. Because apparently Sena had been deemed too 'frail' to play with other boys his age.

But with any luck she'd be a tomboy, or would want to play at the park. In the worst case scenario he might get stuck playing house or having a fake tea party with stuffed animals for a couple hours.

So he rushed home from school as he had a couple times before, he would probably have to do it all the time now too, unless he wanted to get cornered by his agitated tormentors once again and next time there was no telling what their little 'talk' might escalate to.

"I'm sure you'll like her, Sawai Juri is such a sweet girl, she has such an interesting style too, I'm sure you'll get along well." His mother assured him as they made the long trek over to the area where this 'Juri' girl lived.

"She's even got a nickname, all her friends call her 'Julie' isn't that just adorable?" Sena nodded, feigning interest for his mother's sake.

'Please don't be a girly girl, please don't be a girly girl, please don't be a girly girl...'He repeated his mantra as he walked up the steps towards Juri's house and was practically shoved inside by his mother only seconds after knocking, nearly colliding with a girl with light greenish blue hair.

"Ah, sorry." Sena said out of reflex, peering at the girl curiously. She had hoop earrings, elbow length gloves and bell bottomed pants on. 'I guess this is what mom meant when she said Sawai-san had an interesting style.'

"Oh, you must be Sena then, come on!" She grabbed his hand and dragged him up the stairs, Sena could barely hear his mother call out 'have fun', before he was dragged into what he could only assume was Juri's bedroom.

She let go of his hand and went towards her vanity mirror in search of something which gave Sena some time to look around. He let out an inward sigh of relief when he saw that it wasn't completely pink.

"We're going to have _lots_ of fun today Sena, I've never had a younger sibling before, but I've always, _always_ wanted to try this."

Juri turned around and Sena took a cautious step back.

Were those cosmetics in her hands?

"Sawai-san." "Oh, you don't have to call me that, you can call me Julie-neechan." "Okay, J-Julie-neechan." Sena took another small step back as Juri's smile widened. "What exactly are we doing today?"

"We're going to play dress up of course, I know I'm a little old for this sort of thing, but I never got to do it and I've always wanted to. Don't worry, it'll be fun."

Darn it, if Sena ran away Juri would be sad and his mother would probably be angry with him. So with a heavy sigh he resigned himself to his fate, which was something he seemed to be doing a lot lately.

First came the blush, Juri said that his skin was an even enough tone and was without any 'blemishes', whatever thought were, so she wouldn't have to put any 'foundation' on. Then came the eyeshadow, she close a light, glittery green for that. 'It could be worse.' He assured himself while she applied it. 'It could have been pink.'

Next came the mascara, Sena was in the bad habit of blinking and flinching whenever something came _that_ close to his eye and it took Juri a solid ten minutes to finish with that.

Lastly came the lipstick, which was a really pale pink, but it was pink none the less and Sena had never felt less manly in his life, and he had never felt manly in the first place.

"Alright, you're so cute!" Juri cooed over him and Sena managed to pull his lips into a very fake smile. "Thanks Juri, I mean, Julie-neechan. Is that everything?"

Juri gave him a look that clearly said: 'are you kidding' and indeed the next words out of her mouth were: "Are you kidding, we're not even half done yet." She went to her vanity mirror to grab a brush and began running it through Sena's hair.

"Your hair is pretty short, I'm not sure how much I can do with it. Hmm..." She tugged the brush harshly when she felt a knot and Sena winced. "Ow." "I could give you a hair-band, or maybe a couple of clips? You're hair is pretty spiky though so unless I can manage to keep it down it won't look very feminine."

Sena kindly withheld the fact that he didn't want to look feminine in the first place as Juri went over to her vanity mirror, _again_, in search of something.

"Hmmm." Sena could see from her reflection that she was pursing her lips and glaring at the objects in sight.

'Maybe that means she doesn't have what she needs and she'll just stop now?'

Juri suddenly smiled and snapped her fingers. "I got it, mom has some stuff for her hair in the bathroom. I'm sure she won't mind if I borrowed some."

'I think she'll mind! I think she'll mind very much, it's better to be safe then sorry you know.' Sena inwardly complained as Juri practically skipped out the door and down the hallway.

'My life has reached an all time low.' Sena pouted and shyly looked at his reflection in the mirror. He looked like a girl,_ he actually looked like a girl_. Maybe it was because Juri had already reached an age where she knew that more make-up didn't mean you looked better and she had actually applied a subtle amount as opposed to what younger girls seemed to apply. Or maybe it was just because Sena's face wasn't particularly boyish to begin with.

Sena, for the sake of his practically non-existent pride, told himself that it was the former.

"Alright, I'm back!" Juri announced as she re-entered the room, furiously shaking a bottle of something Sena wished to never know the contents of as she crept up behind him.

"Alright, let's do your hair." Sena closed his eyes and willed it to be over soon.

He could feel something being spread into his hair by Juri, then the brush was combing through his hair yet again and then there was a couple of tugs and snapping sounds from the area above his ears.

"There we go. Kyaa, you're so cute!" Juri threw her arms around his neck and Sena slowly opened one eye to glance at himself in the mirror. "I'm really good at this stuff!"

His once spiky hair was now miraculously straight and there were dark green clips keeping his hair behind his ears.

'I look even more girly... How is that even possible?'

"And now for the clothes!"

Oh, oh noooo. That was where Sena drew the line!

"Julie-neechan, I don't want to wear girly clothes." Sena glared up at her as best as he could, of course Juri couldn't really take that look seriously, really it only made him look cuter.

"Aw, please? Just one outfit? I have something from two years ago that I'm sure will fit you, it's not frilly or lacy, just a normal sun-dress. And it's green so it'll go with everything else perfectly!" Juri moved in front of him and widened her eyes in a good imitation of puppy-dog eyes.

"Please? You won't make Julie-neechan sad will you? If you do this for Julie-neechan she'll never make you do it again, I just want to do it once and then we can go play in the park or something." Her eyes widened even more and her lower lip started to tremble.

'Don't give in, don't look her in the eyes...'

"I-I really don't want to-" "Please? Pleeease?" oh God it looked like she was going to cry any moment now and if Sena's mom ever found out that he'd made a girl cry, well, there goes his allowance.

"Fine, fine, I'll do it." 'Let's just get this over with.'

Juri dug through her closet for the article of clothing and upon finding it held it up to Sena for further inspection.

"It'll look so good on you!" She said as she handed it over to him. "You can change into it now, call me back into the room when you're done or if you need any help with the zipper!" There was a definite cheeky tone to her voice as she left the room.

Sena held up the sun-dress with a sigh. 'I could be worse, it could be worse, it could be pink and frilly and short. I might wear this dress, but I'll never wear one that's pink, frilly and short.' (coughliescough)

He slipped out of his clothes and pulled the dress on over his head, managing to do up the zipper in the back without much trouble.

"I'm finished Julie-neechan." He called out reluctantly, eyebrows shooting up when she practically burst through the door with a very satisfied smile on her face.

"Aw, you're so adorable! You could pass off as my little sister or something." She grabbed his hand. "Alright, let's go to the park." "You-you're not letting me change first?" Sena asked, the pitch of his voice going higher with a hint of hysteria. "Nope, half the fun is to see how many people are going to think you're my little sister!"

And so he was dragged through the streets, _crowded_ streets, to the park. 'At least this isn't my neighborhood, no one should recognize me.'

"Oi, Julie! Wait up!" Sena turned to look at a boy with dark purple, spiky hair following after them. "Julie-neechan, who's that?"

"That's Kotarou, whom with I have a non-desirable but unavoidable relationship." Sena pursed his lips together as he tried to figured out what exactly she meant, luckily she seemed to sense his confusion and expanded upon her explanation. "We're childhood friends, our parents were friends so we always played together when we were kids."

'Ah, so it's like me and Mamori-neechan then.' He turned to look at Kotarou again, he'd almost caught up with them.

"Julie, stop ignoring me damn it!" Kotarou demanded as he came up beside her, pulling out a comb and running it through his hair distractedly, raising one eyebrow when he caught sight of Sena.

"Who's that? One of your cousins or something?" The question seemed to put Juri in a good mood and without any reservations she grabbed Sena by the shoulders and turned him to be face to, well, chest, with Kotarou.

"This is Kobayakawa Sena." "Sena?" Koraou paused him combing for a moment. "That doesn't sound like a girl's name..." Kotarou's eyes slowly moved from Sena to take in Juri's overly excited expression before recoiling in shock.

"Julie, you did that girly dress up thing didn't you?! I can't believe you'd do something like that to a kid, what is he, twelve? This could screw with his mind for life! Not smart!" Unheeding of the stares he was getting Koatrou quickly wrenched Sena out of Juri's grip.

"Don't worry kid, I'll keep her and her twisted ideas away from you." Kotarou said cooly, combing his hair once again.

"Kotarou, he agreed to it! It's not like I forced him to!" "You probably just blackmailed him into doing it or something!" "Did not!" Did too!" "Did not!"

At this point Kotarou had stopped the verbal argument and had instead started spitting at Juri.

"Kotarou, that's disgusting! Don't do that!"

Sena, from the relative safety behind Kotarou, watched with something akin to awe.

'They're not like me and Mamori-neechan at all.'


	5. Chapter 5

FASH: I keep on going to ebay and looking at kimonos, man I really want one, I'd probably never wear it in public but just having it would be so awesome. I need to learn how to deal with temptation.

""-speech

''-thoughts

Once Kotarou and Juri's argument had come to a close Sena was herded away by Juri, but not before Kotarou had a chance to tell Sena that he really shouldn't go along with Juri's ideas, seeing as how she was the craziest girl Kotarou knew.

Thankfully Juri didn't seem to hear that comment or else Sena would be cursed to watch from the sidelines as another argument went on between the two.

They arrived at Juri's house with just enough time for Sena to change and furiously scrub off the make up before his mother came to pick him up.

Sena's hair was still straight, and after a couple of hours holding his hair back even after the hair clips were removed his hair stayed behind his ears in an unnatural way. But there wasn't much he could do about it, aside from hopping into a bath and washing whatever Juri had put in his hair out, but he had no time for that.

"Bye bye Julie-neechan." Sena waved shyly, wondering if he'd ever see her again and if she'd keep her promise of never dressing him up.

"Bye Sena, come back again and we'll play in the park some more okay!" She waved enthusiastically and Sena could practically feel his mothers' smile growing without even having to look at her.

'Girls are weird, just plain weird.'

He spent the next few days dodging his tormentors skillfully, successfully keeping away from them during lunch break by hiding behind one of the larger sakura trees on the premises while he ate lunch and he was always ten steps ahead of the, literally, when it came to leaving once school was over.

It was Sunday morning when he was staring dully at one of his many text books that his mother pranced into his room, she seemed to be oddly happy these days, telling him that Takami would be free to come over today and would be doing so within the next hour.

Sena, who was in need of some math guidance at the moment, was beyond pleased to hear this and took his time in getting ready and setting up his study area.

And of course, when Takami did make it over, he did not disappoint.

While Sena was generally too afraid of his teachers and classmates to ask questions when he didn't understand something talking to Takami about what he did and did not understand was just like talking to Mamori about the same thing. Both of them would slowly go over everything, not minding at all if Sena shyly asked them to repeat and explanation and making sure to teach him in a way he'd remember.

They would probably make a good couple, considering how similar they acted. They'd probably never fight over anything and would make Sena the Godfather of their children.

"-and so that's how we know that x is equal to 3.5. Do you understand now?" "Yes Takami-niichan." "That's good." Takami let out a satisfied sigh. "Do you want to play cards or something? I think I've had enough math for the day." "Sure, I'll go get a deck." Sena said as he hoped out of his seat and wandering down to where his mother was in the living room to ask where they kept their decks of cards.

Hey, he only played video games, it was perfectly understandable for him not to know.

Once he was able to procure a deck he raced back up to his room and when Takami asked him what card games he knew as he shuffled the deck Sena responded with a cheery. "None."

Takami's glasses slid down his nose just a fraction as he stared at Sena over the tops of the frames before shaking his head in slight disbelief. "I suppose I'll just have to teach you some. Which do you think you'd like better: Old Maid, Go Fish or War? War would be the easiest to teach you and it can take a while for the game to end. It's not a game of skill, but of luck." "Let's try that one out then." "Alright, War it is." Takami started dealing out the cards.

"We each get half the deck, and then we flip over a card, whoever has the highest ranked card of the two gets to keep both cards, and in the end the one who gets the entire deck wins. If we both lay down cards of equal value we take the next three cards and put them aside and take the forth card to do 'War', whoever wins that round will get the five cards from the other person. Easy right?" Sena nodded his head as he stared at the pile of face down cards. 'I'm not very lucky, but I'd be even worse off if it were a game that I needed to think hard about.'

Sena picked up the card on the top of his pile, as did Takami.

"Ready?" "Ready." They flipped the cards over. Takami's was a Queen while Sena's was a nine, the older boy took both cards and put them underneath his half of the deck while Sena picked up his next card. 'Be an ace, be an ace.'

Takami's was a two and Sena's was a five.

'Well, at least I won this time.'

Fifteen minutes later and they were in a stalemate, if either one of them made any progress in winning the other person's cards the other would soon win and so on and so forth.

By then they'd stopped being too serious about the game and hardly payed attention to the cards as they talked about various subjects, mostly school.

"So, you _have_ been standing up for yourself right?" Came the rather predictable question and Sena nodded. "Well, I've been avoiding them in any case, so I'm pretty sure it's practically the same thing." Takami seemed to agree with him, or if he didn't he at least didn't comment on how Sena was being a wimp for hiding rather than defending himself.

"So, what have you been up to Takami-niichan, getting lots of studying done?" "Studying and tryouts." Sena paused a bit, glancing down at his cards before pulling back his king and Takami's two. "Tryouts for what?" "American football." "Hmm?" Sena blinked up at him. "An American version of football? Don't they call it soccer?"

"No, this is a completely different sport." Takami inwardly laughed at the very idea of trying out for the regular football team. "It's very similar to rugby, but with a lot more protection and tactics."

Sena pursed his lips in thought for a moment. "Oh, I think I know what you're talking about. Sometimes during lunch break there are some third years who play it. Which one are you going to be?"

"Which one?" "The guy who catches the ball or the guy who throws the ball or the guy who-" "I want to be a quarterback, that's the one who throws the ball." "I see, do you think you'll get chosen?"

Takami sighed. "Well, I hope so, I've been trying since middle school to get onto my school's team as the quarterback, but so far it's always someone else who gets chosen."

"That's not fair!" Sena slammed down his hand to protest the unfairness, of it all, but the effect was ruined when he winced and brought his hand back up, shaking it a bit in an attempt to get rid of the pain.

Takami watched with an amused smile spreading on his lips.

"If you've been trying out so much then you probably know the rules much better and are much more passionate about the game than anyone else, it's not fair for them to choose other people." "The coach is just doing what he thinks is best for the team." "But why aren't you the best choice for the team?"

Takami ran a hand through his hair and moved his gaze from Sena to the ceiling. "Well, when I was a child I got into an accident." His hands moved to pull his pant-leg up beyond his knee, showing off his scar to the wide eyed Sena. "Due to the injury I attained I'm not a very good runner, and if a quarterback's pass routes are all blocked he should be able to take the ball further himself, but I can't do that."

"Well, just because you're not fast doesn't mean you shouldn't get chosen." Sena pouted cutely. "Besides, you're awfully tall Takami-niichan, if you can get the person who catches the ball to be really tall too then you'll be able to pass no matter what." He smiled up at Takami reassuringly. "See? Problem solved, you just need for a really tall catcher-" "Receiver." "- a really tall receiver, and then you're set." "There's not many particularly tall receivers in the high school division this year, but there's one in the middle school division..." "Great, then it's just a matter of time until you get to be the, uh..." "Quarterback." "Yeah, the quarterback."

Takami smiled lightly as he placed his next card down, his five winning over Sena's three.

"Since this game seems to be heading no where fast, did you want to go to the park or something? It's not good to be cooped up indoors all day long." "Alright!" Sena leapt up from the floor, sitting still for to long was starting to get to im anyways. "And you can talk to me more about this 'American Football', is it really dangerous, you said they have to wear a lot of protection right?" Sena shuddered. "Doesn't sound like my kind of sport."

Takami pushed himself up off of the floor, following Sena out of his room and down the stairs. "I suppose it is fairly dangerous if you allow yourself to be tackled, but as long as you can outrun the players on defense you'd be okay." "Hmm." Sena slipped on his shoes and opened up the front door.

"Well, if there's one thing I'm good at, it's running." He laughed a bit. "Years of being a gopher for the tougher kids in class and Riku's guidance helped with that."

Takami mock frowned, feeling a bit out of the loop. "Who's 'Riku'?" "Oh, he was one of my friends a while ago, he taught me the proper way to run, but he had to move away." "I see, why did he teach you the proper way to run?"

Sena was silent for a moment. "He wanted me to be able to get away from the bullies." "But you still ran errands for them after that?" "Yeah, I just figured it was easier to do what they said..." Sena's pace had slowed down considerably and Takami felt bad for bringing up the topic so, trying to brighten the situation he asked Sena if the other boy would like to show him how fast he could run.

"I've got a stop watch in my bag and could probably guess how much forty yards would be even off of the football field, so I could tell you how fast you are compared to other athletes."

The prospect of showing off the 'one thing he was good at' seemed to cheer Sena up substantially and within no time the normal spring had gone back into his step.

They reached the park near Sena's house several minutes later and Takami scanned the area for a good starting point. 'Forty yards away, forty yards away... There.'

"Sena, go stand by that willow tree over there and when I give you the signal run back to me okay?" "Okay!" Sena jogged off to the specified tree as Takami dug through his bag for his stopwatch, he quickly found it and pulled it out, making sure the timer was set to zero.

"Are you ready?" He called out to which Sena responded with a cheery. "Yes!"

"On your mark, get set, GO!" His thumb pressed down on the start button just as Sena pushed off from the ground, tracking the younger boy's movements with his eyes and pressing stop just as Sena passed him by.

He'd had a lot of practice doing this sort of thing, several years worth.

He glanced down at the time and smiled brightly, turning to Sena who was walking back at him, having taken a while to slow himself down.

"Congratulations, you were able to do a forty yard dash in five seconds." "Hm? Is that good?" Sena looked at the stopwatch curiously.

"It's very good, you could probably join a sports club really easy if you tried." "Sports? Nah, I'm not very good at remembering rules and stuff like that, plus even if I'm fast it doesn't matter all too much right? Because there's other things I've got to be good at, like kicking, stealing the ball, throwing, catching, and I suck at all of those."

Takami adjusted his glasses habitually. "Actually in American Football you only really need one skill that you excel in, sounds like it would be your type of sport." He patted Sena on the back. "But it's too dangerous for you. If you ever played I think I'd have nightmares about you getting crushed to fill my conscience with guilt about ever bringing up the topic of American Football." Sena nodded along, heavy contact sports such as American Football were definitely at the bottom of his 'Sports to Play' list.

'Playing American Football would be just like getting beaten up for no reason.' He shuddered.

"Thankfully there's Flag Football, which is a safer version. I bet any Flag Football team with your legs on their side would win."

"Flag Football huh?" 'Maybe I'll try playing that sometime.'


	6. Chapter 6

FASH: I think I'm about half way done with this, Sena now knows about American Football, but he doesn't want anything to do with it, yet. More of the Kongo brothers in this chapter, yay!

""-speech

''-thoughts

Summer vacation had started a week ago and Sena fell into his usual summer habit of staying up till late and playing video games and staying in bed until well past noon.

'If only it were like this all year round.' He sleepily thought as he rolled out of bed one fine afternoon. No school meant that he didn't have to hide himself away from his bullies all the time, it also meant he had lots of free time to hang out with Mamori and Takami whenever they were free, for videos games and studying.

'I will get my kitten, just you wait and see!'

He would have attempted to play some Flag Football, he'd never been really good at a sport before and the thought of excelling in something made his heart beat a bit faster, but he had no friends to play with and so ultimately he was unable to go through with it. But in hopes that he would one day be able to join a Flag Football team, if there was such a thing, he had taken to jogging around for an hour each day, trying to build up his stamina and speed by sprinting every once in a while during the jog.

As it was by the end of each hour he was tired, could hardly breath and he had long since begun walking instead of jogging, but he was sure that he'd get better after a while.

As he threw on some clothes he faintly heard the phone begin to ring, it rang at least six times before his mother or father were able to answer it.

Because they were packing. Because Sena's father had a business trip to go on and while his mother would be able to come, children weren't allowed.

And so Sena was going to be stuck staying with some babysitter for the entire weekend, from Friday afternoon to Sunday afternoon.

'Why can't I just stay home alone? I'm thirteen and a half and it's not like I'm going to throw a party when they're gone or anything.' He strolled out of his bedroom and down the stairs.

"Alright, I understand, no no it'll be fine... Okay then, goodbye." Sena could hear his mother hang up the phone from inside the kitchen.

"That was the babysitter, a family emergency has come up and she won't be able to take care of Sena this weekend." "Oh, that's too bad."

'Awesome, maybe I can just stay home alone then.'

"Well, I'm sure he's old enough to stay home by himself." 'Thank you dad!' "We can't leave him all by himself, what if he got hurt?!" '... How exactly would I get hurt?' "And how exactly do you think he'll get hurt?" "What if he fell down the stairs, cut himself while making himself something to eat, slipped on the wet floor of the bathroom, there are endless possibilities!"

Sena could hear his dad sigh. "Fine, I guess you'll be contacting your friends to see if anyone can take him in for the weekend, I'll finish packing up by myself." He left the kitchen and caught Sena's eyes as he passed the staircase, shrugging his shoulders and nodding in the direction of the kitchen in a discreet way of saying: 'it's not my fault.'

Sena nodded in understanding, knowing full well that his mother was becoming oddly overprotective as of late.

'Man, this weekend is going to suck.' He sulked on his way into the kitchen where his mother was already calling up anyone and everyone that she knew to see if they would be able to take care of her 'precious baby' while they were gone.

"Oh no that's alright... Yes... Thank you anyways. Bye Usagi-chan." She hung up and quickly dialed another number.

'Maybe if I'm lucky everyone will be busy and she'll have no choice but to leave me alone in the house, or take me with her.' Sena smiled lightly as he opened up the refrigerator and grabbed the container of juice.

"Really, you can? Thank you so much Yomi-chan!"

'Aw, there goes that plan.' Sena sipped at his juice. 'The name Yomi seems familiar, who is it?' He furrowed his eyebrows. 'Yomi, Yomi, Yomi... Kongo Yomi! That's Agon-san's mom!'Sena stood frozen in shock as his mother finished off her conversation.

"Alright we'll drop him off tomorrow right at twelve, thanks again." She hung up happily and for some unexplainable reason gave Sena the thumbs up, as if she'd just done something noteworthy.

'I'm doomed, so doomed...' The thought seemed to echo in his mind for the rest of the day, a good part of the night and was the first thing he thought of when he woke up the next morning.

He just hoped that Agon wouldn't be around very much, other wise he might keel over from nervousness.

"Bye bye Sena, don't go having to much fun now, 'kay?" His mother gave him one final hug before turning and leaving him in the care of the Kongo family.

'This is going to be the most nerve wracking weekend of my entire life.'

All of Friday he sat in the living room finishing off the rest of his homework he'd been assigned during the break and then going back and triple checking it. Yomi and Unsui would check up on him every once in a while, and thankfully it appeared that Agon was on a date today and, according to Unsui, Agon always came home late when on dates.

After a quiet but not quite awkward supper with Unsui and Yomi Sena retired to the guestroom that was right across from Agon and Unsui's room. Yomi, in some stroke of maternal instinct, decided to tuck him in and even offered to read him a bed time story. Sena gently told her that he would be fine and thanked her for her help thus far.

'How old does she think I am? Seven?'

"Goodnight Sena." "Goodnight Kongo-san." She flicked off the light and Sena was left staring at the dark ceiling, not really tired since he was used to staying up later now, but having nothing else to do but sleep.

He closed his eyes with a sigh and turned onto his side, willing himself to sleep.

He awoke again with a start when he heard a 'thunk' just outside the room he was in. "Hmm?" He looked around for an alarm clock and found one on a dresser to his left. The red lights that spelled out '2:42 AM' seemed to be mocking him somehow, in some way that his sleep muddled mind couldn't figure out.

He heard a muffled curse and the sound of a door opening. 'I guess that mean Agon-san is back.' He looked at the clock once again. 'He sure was out late, maybe he'll stay in bed all day tomorrow and I won't have to deal with him.' Not too likely, but it helped calm the sea of nervousness that had awakened in the pit of his stomach when he realized that Agon was up and about not even ten feet and one wall away.

He woke up without any further disturbances at eight thirty in the morning and after throwing on some clothes he'd brought in a duffle bag he stumbled his way to the kitchen in search of juice.

What he found instead was Agon and Unsui, calmly eating cereal at the kitchen table.

'What? Shouldn't he be dead tired and in bed still?' Sena shook his head, Agon's supernatural sleeping habits weren't something he wanted to ponder about first thing in the morning. 'He changed his hair too. He let it grow out and now he's got dreads.' If anything his new hairstyle freaked Sena out more than before, dreads made him look tougher.

He practically tip-toed over to one of the cabinets, silently grabbed a glass and poured himself some orange juice before making his way to the table and settling down beside Unsui.

"You broke up with another girl? Agon, you shouldn't go around hurting girl's feelings like that. I think Haruka-chan really liked you." Agon snorted and leaned back in his chair. "But she was so clingy, I go out with her three times and she's already got delusions of bridal gowns stuck in her head." He cast a look over to Sena, smirked and waved. "Hey there brat, how's it going?"

"Uh, g-good." Sena replied from behind his glass but Agon's attention was already elsewhere, on the ceiling.

"Agon, shouldn't you be at practice? You're almost an hour late now." "Ha, baseball is too easy, I don't need to practice like the rest of that trash does."

'Agon-san must be some sort of sports genius, it sounds like he's the ace of everything he does the way he talks about his teammates. I wonder if they're really that bad?' But Agon seemed like the type who looked down on everybody, a sort of egomaniac. 'Poor Unsui-san, having such a mean younger brother.'

Sena finished off his juice and got up from the table to put his glass in the sink.

"Are you going to be finishing up more homework today Sena?" Unsui asked as he began to clear away his dishes.

"No, I'm gonna go out for a jog and then I'll just... Laze around here I guess." Sena threw him a weak smile before meandering to the front door.

'Alright, maybe by the time I'm finished my jog Agon-san will have wondered off somewhere again.' He reached the sidewalk and cautiously looked left and right. 'I guess since I don't really know the area around here I should just run around the block until I'm done, unless I see street names I know I'll remember.' He nodded to himself firmly before dashing off to the left.

He was on his third lap around the block when he felt his foot snag on something and he came crashing to the pavement. 'Owww.' He pushed himself up on his hands and turned to see what he had tripped over.

It was a dog, a rather vicious looking dog, a dog with retractable claws!

'But that's impossible, dogs can't have retractable claws!' "Ni-nice doggy." Sena was slowly backing away, the dog had been a bit dazed from their collision, but now it seemed completely aware and was ready to tear him apart.

With a growl the beast leapt forward and Sena was up on his feet and running away in record time. "HIIII!" 'Why does this type of stuff happen to me?!'

"Well, as fun as it is to hang out with you Unko-chan, I've got someone to meet." Agon announced as he moved away from the kitchen table.

"You're not going out on another date are you?" "Ha, I wish."

Unsui's brow furrowed at Agon's answer but he decided not to question it, Agon could take care of himself.

Agon strode out of the door and had made it to the sidewalk just in time to see something moving quickly towards him with his peripheral vision, he stepped back just as Sena flew past him. 'Hm, the brat's pretty fast.' He cocked an eyebrow when he saw the dog chasing after Sena.

'I guess that means that _he'll_ be here soon.' Agon chuckled a bit and cracked his knuckles, more than ready to let off some steam.

Sena, not sure if he could outrun the dog for much longer swiftly turned around and dashed back towards the house.

'Aw fuck, I don't wanna have to deal with that damn mutt.' Agon walked back to the house and just made it inside when he felt a stray current of air and heard the door slam behind him.

Sena was pressed up against the door and breathing heavily as though he'd just run a marathon.

'I haven't seen many people who were able to outrun Cerberus, most guys become his chew toy within seconds of the chase beginning.'

"Hey brat, are you on the track team or something?" "Uh... No..." Sena let out a sigh and allowed himself to collapse on the floor.

"Do you think... That dog's still out there?" Sena questioned as he tried to even out his breathing.

"Ha, if you think the dog is freaky you should meet it's master, you'd run away screaming, just like most of the general population." Sena blinked at him curiously and couldn't help but think. 'Is it's Agon-san's dog?' A rather unsettling notion for sure, because if it was true then Agon could sick that dog on him anytime he wanted. 'But it can't be true right, because I've already met Agon-san.' Sena let out a small sigh of relief.

"Agon? Sena? Why are you two back already?" Unsui asked as he peered at them from the living room.

"A certain demon's hell hound is right outside our door." Agon replied with discontent and Unsui nodded in understanding.

'Demon? I hope I never have to meet the owner of that dog!'


	7. Chapter 7

FASH: I keep on getting distracted from writing because I'm watching Eyeshield all over again, so wonderful! But I shall persevere! Also, thanks to everyone who's been reviewing, it's nice to get feedback.

""-speech

''-thoughts

Unusi had gone into his room to finish up the homework he'd been assigned over the break and Agon was flipping through a sports magazine in boredom while he waited in the foyer, looking out the windows every once in a while to see if Cerberus had left yet.

So far the dog still hadn't budged from it's spot in front of the door.

"Damn it, what did you do to get that dog to chase you? It's a freaking monster." Agon demanded and Sena laughed nervously from his spot of the floor. "Well I, uh... Kind of tripped over him." He finished lamely and Agon glared down at him before cursing under his breath and flipping through his magazine some more.

Another two minutes of near silence past before Agon angrily tossed the magazine away. "Damn magazine, baseball isn't nearly as tough as the trash who wrote this think it is. Clearly these people have no talent. It's a sport for pansies."

Sena looked up at him before cautiously saying: "Well, if you want a dangerous sport you could always try American Football." Agon slowly turned to look at Sena and the brunette could feel his heart start to beat rapidly. "I mean, they must have all the protective equipment for a reason right? And if you're on offense and you're not fast enough to dodge the defensive positions then you'll get tackled." He said quickly, inwardly thanking Takami for elaborating on the subject so that Sena didn't come off as a complete idiot when explaining it.

"American Football huh?" 'Isn't that the sport _he's_ interested in?' Agon caught a movement for outside with the corner of his eye and he turned to get a better look. 'Speak of the devil and he shall appear.'

Agon cracked open the door, noting that the dog had run off to it's master's side due to the large hunk of meat the blonde had been carrying.

"Hey fucking dreads, get out here already." He called and Sena shuddered at the voice. 'That must be the guy who owns that dog.'

"See ya later brat." He called out as he left the house, fingers itching for a good fight.

Sena watched him go, elated that he'd been able to talk to Agon without having any bodily harm done to him.

The door closed and Sena was left in a silent house with not much to do and since Unsui was doing work, no one to talk to. It was kind of like how it was at home, minus the video games.

'Now then,' Sena pushed himself up off of the floor. 'Where did Kongo-san say they kept their DVDs at?'

The rest of Saturday past by in a flurry of action movies, snacks and another supper without Agon and soon enough Sena had been tucked into bed once again, wondering is Agon came home late all the time, even if he didn't have a date.

He slept on through to Sunday without any interruptions like the previous night and didn't crawl out of bed for the better part of the morning.

He waited around, watching a couple more movies, until his parents came to pick him out at noon and then he politely bid the Kongo family a farewell.

The weekend hadn't turned out as bad as he thought it would be, but that didn't mean he wanted to come back any time soon, Agon, although he had seemed far nicer this time, still scared the living daylights out of him.

And so his routine of staying up late to play video games and sleeping in until noon began anew, until his mother got sick of his lack of human contact.

"Really Sena, how can you stay in this house all day long?" She complained to him one morning at the absolutely ungodly hour of nine o' clock.

"Mmmmph." Sena replied, burrowing his head into his pillows in an attempt to ignore his mother's voice and go back to sleep.

"Sena." She pulled off the blankets in hopes that the action would get Sena moving, unfortunately it was already warm enough that Sena didn't feel the need to get up and grab his covers back.

"Honestly." She allowed the blankets to fall onto the floor as she placed her hands on her hips, tapping her foot against the floor impatiently. "If you keep these sleeping habits up then you won't be able to get up at seven in the morning for when school starts in a couple of weeks."

"Mmm? Huh." Was Sena's articulate reply.

"Alright, that's it." She grabbed onto Sena's ankles and dragged him out of bed. "You are going outside today young man, and you are going to have loads of fun!"

Sena, who had the air knocked out of him when he hit the floor and didn't want to experience that ever again, decided to make a muffled vocalization of agreement. "Ummhummm." While thinking. 'What do you mean I don't go outside? I'm outside everyday for an hour jogging.'

And apparently Mihae's version of going outside actually meant not only going outside, but walking over to Juri's and getting her to come with him to the park.

'Ah, I suppose 'going outside' was just the cover for her wanting me to have some more human contact.' Sena couldn't help but think, crossing his fingers that Juri would act normally around him this time, because he'd just be too tired to fight her off if she broke her promise and tried dressing him up again today.

'I wish Takami-niichan had some free time, but I suppose he's busy training to become a great quarterback.' Sena's shoulders slumped. 'And Mamori-neechan has lots of other friends her own age that she needs to keep in touch with. Ah.' He sighed and gave a half hearted glare at the house they were approaching. 'Such is the life I live.'

Juri was oddly excited about accompanying him to the park, Sena supposed it was because she'd never been able to go to the park with a 'younger sibling' before and was elated to be a 'big sister.'

"Do you want to go on the swings?" She asked, leaning down so that they were face to face and Sena nervously said yes. "Alright, you get on and I'll push you!" Sena complied uneasily, hyper aware of his mother's watchful eyes keeping track of his every move.

'What, does she think I'm going to run off or something?' He couldn't help but think as Juri began pushing. 'She seems to be getting even more protective than before, maybe she thinks that I have a crush on Julie-neechan? For no reason at all...' Ha, he'd never even think about ever having a crush on a girl who thought it was a great idea to dress him up as a girl.

"Oi! Julie!" "Ah, it's Kotarou-kun!" Sena pointed at the dark haired boy and dug his feet into the sand under him to keep him from swinging.

"Indeed it is." Juri replied sourly, glaring at Kotarou as he approached.

"Hey, Julie." Kotarou walked forward with a clenched fist and Sena wondered if they were going to start arguing again. 'Really, did they ever get along?'

"Please go out with me!"

Sena and Juri's mouths dropped open and they blinked at Kotarou in bewilderment. Then Juri's face flush, from anger or embarrassment Sena didn't know, but her response was said quite clearly.

"Whatever, stop saying stupid things, moron!" 'Well, that isn't exactly a 'no'.' But Kotarou visibly deflated, thankfully he bounced back before the situation could get too awkward and was once again running a comb through his hair.

"Hey kid, wanna see something awesome?" He asked Sena as he did a wonderful job of ignoring the steaming girl who was just a couple feet away from him.

"Uh, s-sure." Sena said, carefully throwing glances at the two before turning his head to see his mother.

She looked rather amused by the events unfolding, holding one hand to her mouth and her eyes crinkled up at the edges in a smile.

"Alright come with me!" Kotarou grabbed onto Sena's hand and began dragging him somewhere, Juri not far behind.

"Kotarou, where are you taking Sena?" Juri demanded as she grabbed on to Sena's other hand and soon enough the both of them were bickering right above his head.

Sena had been dragged to a juice vending machine and waited patiently for Kotarou to select the type of juice he wanted before asking him what exactly he planned on showing him.

"I already told you didn't I? Something awesome." The older boy replied before chugging his juice and Juri sighed and decided to elaborate.

"He's going to kick that can somewhere, wherever you want him to kick it, and it's going to hit whatever spot you told him to go for because Kotarou is just awesome like that." She said dryly. "At least he remembered to drink it this time, about a year back he kicked the can while there was still some juice left in it. The stains never did come out of that shirt did they?" She asked with a smug look and Kotarou glared at her from the corner of his eye.

After another couple seconds Kotarou pulled the can away with a gasp for air and carefully set the can down.

"Alright Sena, where do you want me to kick it?" "Um, uh..." Sena glanced around towards the park.

"How about between the two swings? Near the top." He said, pointing back towards the way the came.

"Alright." Kotarou took a deep breath, kept his eyes on the target and-

"Hey you! Didn't I tell you to stop kicking cans everywhere?! Don't go doing stuff like that if you're not going to pick up after yourself." Yelled a middle aged man from several meters away.

Kotarou, without missing a beat, quickly bent over to pick up the can and booked it out of there.

"Hey, come back here!" The man yelled as he gave chase.

"Is Kotarou-kun going to be okay?" "Yeah, he's got a pretty good head start on that guy already, and he's pretty fast. Now then, let's go back to the swings!" She said as she marched back to the swing set, Sena trailing behind her and checking to see his mother's reaction.

Apparently Kotarou's little chase was amusing her as well, she was staring off in the direction he and the man had gone and was holding her hands over her mouth, shoulders shaking from held-in laughter.

'Why does she find that so funny?'

They had almost made it to the swing sets when Kotarou appeared beside them like some sort of ill-mannered ghost. Sena was hardly able to muffle the shriek that desperately wanted to be heard when he felt the older boy tap his shoulder.

"Alright, I've probably lost him for about a minute, I think he'll notice that he went down the wrong path soon." Kotarou explained as he set down his can once again and took a small step back.

"Sorry I won't be able to hit the mark you set out for me, but I'm sure that this'll make up for it." He leaned in and swiftly kicked the can into the air.

Sena watched it fly by, straight into a recycling bin beside the vending machine that was meant for cans.

"Ha, smart isn't it?" "Yeah, that's really cool! Do you play soccer or something?" "Nope." Kotarou practically beamed down at him. "American Football all the way." He gave Sena a thumbs up and Juri sighed in exasperation from behind him.

"I realize that you love showing off and everything, but don't you think sticking around here when one of the park and recreation guys is after you is 'not smart'?" Juri crossed her arms and as if to prove her point the sudden shout of: "Hey kid come back here, I'm not done talking with you!" Was heard throughout the park and Kotarou quickly turned and sped away. "See you later."

'Another American Football player eh? It sure seems to be a popular sport.'

But Sena couldn't think on the subject any longer, 'Julie-neechan' wanted his full attention and, under the distinct impression that his mother would be angry with him if he gave her anything less, he complied.


	8. Chapter 8

FASH: Alright, another bit of a time leap here, but if I didn't skip ahead every now and again I'd never be able to finish this fic before I have to go back to school.

""-speech

''-thoughts

Sena shivered and wrapped the canary yellow scarf that Mamori had knitted for his birthday tighter around his neck.

'Why does it have to be so cold during the winter?' He inwardly complained, his mother having already fallen victim to the cold and was now staying in bed with a slight fever as Sena went out to do the shopping. Of course it wasn't easy to get her in bed, she practically scoffed at her temperature and told him and his father that she'd take it easy for the day, but she wouldn't need to sleep it off for an entire day.

His mother was bullheaded like that.

Thankfully his father new how to stand his ground when it was important and somehow he'd convinced his mother to stay in bed for the entire day as Sena went out and did everything that needed to be done.

'I bet she's just glaring at the ceiling, waiting for the day to pass her by.' He smiled at the thought as he entered the grocery store, carefully checking his list and grabbing a basket.

'First stop is the produce aisle.' He announced to himself, making his way there quickly.

The sooner he was done the sooner he could go home and check up on his mother to make sure she hadn't gone mad with boredom yet.

After about fifteen minutes he'd gathered up everything he needed to, gone to the checkout and paid the cashier. Then with a bag in each hand, he cautiously stepped out the door.

'It feels even colder than before now that I've warmed up inside.' He thought as he made his way down the nearly empty streets, apparently the majority of the population had decided it was far to cold to do anything involving the outdoors today. Sena couldn't say he blamed them.

He started when a pair of hands clamped down on his shoulders and he turned to look around half expecting it to be Mamori who would comment on how nice the scarf looked on Sena.

But it wasn't.

"Hey guys, look, it's little Sena." The bully grinned down at him and tightened his grip on Sena's shoulders. 'Oh darn.' If he'd been free Sena still would have had a chance to run away, but he couldn't do anything while being held in place by someone who was so obviously stronger than he was.

"Sena-kun, I haven't seen you around after class or during lunch for the longest time." Another one, Mamoru was his name, said, sliding an arm around Sena's shoulders in a very sleazy sort of gesture. "So why don't you come with us and we'll catch up." They were already dragging him into an alleyway and there was no one else on the street that Sena could call out to for help.

Damn the cold, damn it to hell where it would defrost and turn into room temperature for eternity.

The first hit to his gut sent him flying backwards, slamming against the brick wall and dropping his groceries. 'Well, at least there wasn't anything breakable in there.' He said trying to lighten the situation. His bullies, five of them anyways, had formed a semi circle around him and there was no way he'd be able to get through the minuscule gaps that they'd left between their bodies.

The 'leader' of the group was cracking his knuckles in a very threatening way.

"You know, it didn't have to resort to this Sena." Despite himself, Sena couldn't help but wonder how he even knew the meaning of resort, Daiba had never really been one to study.

"But me and the guys figure that if you're no good as out errand boy any more, well, why bother holding back?" He moved forward as quickly as he could but Sena dodged to the side and tried to make it for the opening Daiba had uncovered, but someone else had grabbed hold of the very end of his coat and yanked him backwards into a pair of slim but muscular arms.

"I told you that wouldn't work Daiba, Sena-kun's just to fast for us." Mamoru practically cooed in some sort of sick satisfaction, tightening his arms more until Sena found it very difficult to breath.

"Fine, you hold him down then." Daiba said, apparently even angrier now than he was before because of Sena's attempt to escape.

The first punch was an uppercut to his jaw that caused Sena to see stars, the next was right against the side of his face and Sena could feel blood start dribbling out of his cut lip, then there was another punch to his gut and Sena let out a scream that was muffled by Mamoru's hand clamping down over his mouth.

And then, and then...

Nothing happened.

Sena slowly opened one teary eye and stared in shock at the reason for the sudden silence.

'Agon-san.'

The older boy was glaring at the kids around him and Mamoru's grip on Sena weakened until Sena fell right out of his arms, hitting the concrete with a pained cry.

Apparently that was the thing that set Agon off because without further adieu he grabbed onto Daiba's jacket and pulled him right up against his incoming fist.

Sena couldn't see from his face down position on the ground, but he heard a lot of hysterical shouting and the shuffling of feet, followed by the sound of fists hitting fabric and groans of pain.

Had there been any energy left in his body, he would have tried to tell Agon that what he'd done was enough, but as it was Sena felt sore all over and thought that even moving his lips would send icy tracks of mind numbing pain through out his body.

When he heard the last of a series of muffled thumps, which he supposed were their bodies hitting the ground his ears picked up the sound of Agon's shoes scuffling towards him.

"Lucky bastards, those winter coats are good padding." He squatted down. "Hey, you still alive or can I just leave?"

Sena, using what seemed to be all of his strength, turned his head to look at Agon who let out a sigh.

"What's the point of being as fast as you are if you don't use your speed properly in these situations, idiot." Sena made a sound of protest from the back of his throat and Agon seemingly understood. "Doesn't matter how many of them there are, you're fast enough to not get caught, you just don't go that fast often enough. You are damn lucky that I was in this neighborhood."

Agon was being oddly nice today, criticism aside, maybe it was because Sena looked absolutely pathetic and deep down Agon really was a nice person?

Not bloody likely.

Agon huffed and picked Sena up by his sides. "I'm not carrying you home, it's your fault those pieces of trash were able to do this."

Sena stood up on unsteady feet and Agon frowned at his bloody lip before moving the scarf up to cover it.

"So, which place hurts the most?" He asked in a fairly uncaring manner, but Sena moved his hand to his mid-section anyways.

"Do you know anything about checking yourself for injuries?" Sena shook his head and Agon cursed under his breath. "Alright, I'll help you about, but this _never happened_, got it?"

Sena nodded and would have smiled if it weren't for the fact that doing so would make his lip hurt even more.

Agon picked up the grocery bags, muttering something under his breath angrily but out of the corner of his eye Sena could see Agon was shooting him some well disguised concerned looks.

'Maybe I've grown on him after all the time we've been forced to spend together?'

They made it home slowly, Agon deliberately slowing down his pace and making excuses for his actions.

"I'm just doing this because you're obviously better than that trash that cornered you." He'd say and Sena found himself believing Agon less and less until, by the time they'd finally reached his house, he didn't believe Agon's excuses at all.

'He's not as scary as he used to be.' He opened the door and took off his shoes, Agon right behind him.

"Sena, is that you?" His mother called out from the bedroom. "Y-Yes." Sena replied as loudly as he could. "I've got everything, I'll just be putting it away now." He meandered over to the kitchen and set everything down on the table before making his way up to his room, Agon not far behind.

"Alright, take off your coat and your shirt, I've gotta check your ribs." The older boy said after he'd closed the bedroom door behind him. Sena slowly took off his jacket and pulled up his sweater, wincing slightly when he felt a twinge of pain from the action.

"Hm, well it doesn't look like you broke any ribs, although I highly doubt that kid could break something no matter how hard he punched." Agon motioned for Sena to sit down and the younger boy silently obeyed.

He pressed his hand along the spot where a bruise was starting to form and Sena winced, but kept quiet.

"Looks like it's just bruised. Like I said before, winter coats are good padding." And once again he muttered, "Lucky bastards." under his breath.

"Alright, now let me see that split lip." Agon commanded, Sena complying with no questions asked.

After perhaps thirty minutes in the care of 'Doctor Agon' Sena was deemed 'pretty much all better' and was forced to take multiple painkillers and told to take it easy.

"And remember. This. Never. Happened." Agon said before beginning to make his way out of Sena's room , but he paused just before he left.

"I heard from Unko-chan that you turned fourteen a while ago, so, happy belated birthday." He muttered under his breath before stomping off.

This time Sena couldn't wipe the grin off of his face, even if it meant that his lip was becoming more painful.

Agon, of all people, wished him a happy birthday? Maybe he wasn't too bad after all.

'Or maybe he really is just as bad as I think he is but he thinks I'm better than everyone else because I'm fast.' That was the most likely option, but it was nice to think that Agon secretly wasn't an egomaniac with a short temper and had a soft spot for him.

'I'd better go put those groceries away now, before mom decides that she wants to get up out of bed and wander around.' He slid his shirt back on, made his way down to the kitchen and began putting things away, he had just finished and had grabbed himself a glass of juice when his mother had come strolling into the kitchen.

"Sena?! What happened to you? You lip is split and your chin is bruising!" She glided towards him with all the grace of a swan on LSD.

She grabbed onto his shoulders and Sena was thankful he remembered to slip on his shirt, if his mother saw the bruises on his abdomen then there would be no question as to what had happened to him.

"I slipped on a patch of ice on my way home. Don't worry, it doesn't hurt to much, and I took some painkiller a while ago." 'More like Agon-san forced them down my throat.' "And it'll heal in no time." 'Or at least that's what Agon-san said.'

His mother gave him a good, hard look before accepting his story.

"Do try to be carful next time dear, it is that time of the year you know." She patted him on the head.

"Speaking of it being 'that time of the year', how's you fever doing?" "I think it's gotten a bit worse actually." She pressed the back of her hand against her forehead.

"You should go back to bed, do you want me to make you anything? Miso soup maybe?" "No no, I'll be fine, I just need to get myself re-hydrated."She got a glass of water and quickly downed it.

"I'll be fine by four o' clock, just you wait and see."

"If you say so mother." Sena smiled at her fondly as he watched her go back to her room before going back up to his own.

'Well, all things considered today wasn't to bad. And next time those bullies try to corner me I'll be sure to leave them in the dust.'

Because if Agon said he could go even faster than he was to not get caught, surely he could. Agon wasn't the type to praise others abilities after all, there was no way he'd be exaggerating just for Sena's sake.

'I'll train even more and become even faster. And then I'll never have to worry about bullies again.'


	9. Chapter 9

FASH: Oh look, another time gap! Ehehehe...

""-speech

''-thoughts

Sena sped towards his classroom, easily dodging the various students in his way and turning on a dime to get into his class before the ball rang.

He felt full of energy today, probably due to the fact that he'd received some awesome news just the other night.

After nearly a week of tryouts, Takami had finally been selected as quarterback and had even invited Sena to their first game of the season, against a team called the Deimon Devil Bats. 'Deimon, that's the high school Mamori-neechan went to.'

Sena had ecstatically congratulated Takami over the phone and promised him that yes, he'd definitely come to see the game that would be happening after school two days from now.

Even during class his excitement made it impossible for him not to shift around in his seat, swing his feet back and forth or tap his pencil against his desk.

His mood wasn't even destroyed when the math teacher handed out a pop quiz to see how much they had been paying attention the first several classes, or even when he realized that Mamoru and Daiba were giving him dark looks from across the classroom.

He'd been studying like hell and training like hell, frankly it wouldn't surprise him if he got at least a seventy percent on the test and he was pretty sure that none of his bullies would even be able to catch up with him.

Unless they caught him off guard again, but that was something Sena was pretty sure wouldn't happen, not after what Agon had put them through last time.

Apparently word had got around that Sena had a psychotic, powerful and over-protective older cousin, and well, Sena wasn't going to bother trying to set those rumors straight, even if that meant that even less people were willing to talk to him than before.

Time flew by and soon enough school was over. 'In just another twenty four hours I'll be making my way over to watch Takami-neechan's first game as the quarterback for his team!' He spun around excitedly before practically skipping off of the school grounds, easily ignoring the muted whispers about his odd behavior

'I wonder if Mamori-neechan would like to come with me to watch the match? But she might be busy...' Sena pursed his lips in thought, it was Mamori's first week at Deimon, so she probably wouldn't be too busy with club activities and homework yet, but would she really want to come to a game to cheer for the opposing high school?

'I'll ask her anyways, just in case.'

It turned out she was actually quite busy with her Disciplinary Committee.

"There's another first year called Hiruma-kun, absolutely no one stands up to him and it's part of my job to make sure he stops causing trouble." She said in way of explanation. "Honestly, it's so troublesome trying to deal with him. He'll be at that game though, he's the quarterback for the team, so make sure you stay at least twenty, no, thirty feet away from him at all times." Mamori demanded.

"Uh, sure Mamori-neechan... Is Hiruma-san really that bad?" 'Mamori-neechan doesn't really over-exaggerate.' "Yes, he is that bad. Make sure you don't go anywhere near him, okay?" "Okay, I'll make sure. Bye Mamori-neechan." "I'll talk to you later Sena, have fun watching the game."

'Hiruma-san eh? I wonder how he'll compare to Takami-niichan.' Sena still didn't know to much about football, but he'd watched it on television a couple times, and he was definitely going to go to all of Takami's games to support him.

'The White Knights will definitely win! And the whole team will see that it was the right choice to pick Takami-neechan to be the quarterback!'

The next day he was even more fidgety in class than he had been the day before, he couldn't even focus on how ecstatic he should feel that he got and eighty percent on the math pop quiz, didn't even fell any sort of fear when Daiba and Mamoru were glaring at him all throughout the day. When the bell signaling the end of the day tolled he was up and out of his seat before anyone else and was dashing through the hallway, out of the school just as other students had begun to leave the class.

He sprinted towards the train station for a good couple of minutes until he felt as though his legs were going to give out under him any second now.

'I guess I was to excited to realize how fast I was going, but I was able to sprint like that for longer than usual, my stamina is really starting to build up.' He walked slowly on unsteady legs the rest of the way, the twelve minutes it usually took for him to walk to the train station from the school cut into one third of the time.

'Just a ten more minutes and I'll be there.' He stepped onto the nearly empty train, very few other students had been able to catch it. 'I wonder how many people will be there for the first game of the season?' he looked around at the other people on the train with him. Most of them were girl holding little signs and banners with hearts and the name 'Sakuraba' on them.

'Sakuraba? Hm, for some reason that name sounds familiar.' But there was no time to dwell on that, his stop was coming up soon.

To his surprise the girls not only got off at the same stop as him but also followed him on his way to the football field where a small but obviously obsessed group of girls were screaming. "SAKURABA-KUN!"

'Ah, now I remember, Jerry Pro's Sakuraba, and, if I remember correctly he's also the new, tall receiver that Takami-neechan told me about.' Sena scanned the field, catching sight of Takami and Sakuraba.

"Takami-niichan!" He called from the sidelines, waving his hand, smiling widely when Takami turned to look at him.

"Sena, are you ready to watch some American Football?" He asked as he walked towards the younger boy, Sakuraba not far behind.

"Um-hm." Sena nodded his head, wincing a bit as the group of fangirls migrated over to where he was, screaming at the top of their lungs.

"Kyaaa! Sakuraba-kun!"

Sakuraba took a nervous step back and decided not to move any closer to the girls until they became a bit more sane, an impossible task for certain.

"Are there usually this many spectators for the first game of the season?" Sena asked, slowly moving to the side where he could speak without having multiple fangirls breathing down his neck.

"No, it's just Sakuraba's influence." Takami smiled. "He's not the best receiver yet, but his height is a definite advantage." He ran a hand through Sena's hair fondly. "When he does end up catching my passes, no one can stop them."

"So, think you'll win?" "I pretty sure, Deimon does have a couple good players, but only a couple, the rest are all borrowed from other sports clubs so it's really unlikely that they'd win." "Well, you may not need me to wish you good luck in that case, but good luck anyways. Go out there and show 'em who's boss." "Will do." Takami nodded and retreated back to the center of the field.

'And there's the opposing team, the Deimon Devil Bats.' Sena looked over at the team curiously until something caught his eye.

A very familiar, very ill tempered, very _evil_ dog.

Sena scrambled backward before noticing that the dag was quite securely chained to a post in the ground. 'But that means his owner is around here... Could it possibly be... Hiruma-san?' He glanced around the sea of red uniforms to catch sight of anyone who looked evil enough to be the master to that hell hound.

And he quickly spotted him, not even fifteen feet away slyly holding a gun to Sakuraba's back as a rather large player, Sena assumed he was a lineman, took Sakuraba's picture.

'Sc-scary!' Sena quickly made his way to the stands. 'No wonder Mamori-neechan is having so much trouble with him, what kind of first year carries around a gun?'

The game soon began and Sena quickly concluded that the number one and seventy seven of the Devil Bats were the only actual American Football players.

'Hiruma-san is really good at passing, but the receivers never catch the ball. And number seventy seven is amazing, even the White Knight's linemen can't seem to break through him.'

By the time half time rolled around Oujou was winning fifty six to nothing.

'It's really to bad that the Devil Bats don't have any other permanent members, but I suppose, with Hiruma-san as the quarterback, not many people would want to join the team.'

He cast his gaze upon Oujou's side. 'Takami-niichan is a really great quarterback, and that number forty is really amazing, Sakuraba-kun...' He thought briefly about the first half, Sakuraba had only been able to catch the ball once. 'But it was an awesome catch, if he practices more then someday he'll be a great receiver, no one will ever be able to intercept a pass from Takami-niichan and him.'

The game ended with an overwhelming ninety nine to nothing. 'I knew the White Knights would win, but not by this much!' It was almost sad, he could tell just by watching the game that Hiruma and the number seventy seven lineman were giving it their all while the rest of the group fumbled around half heatedly. 'They probably were only forced to play by Hiruma-san, but it's really to bad.'

Oh well, he really couldn't do anything about it.

He waited for a while as the majority of the crowd dispersed from the area before making his way down the bleachers and towards Takami.

"Sena, did you enjoy watching the game?" "Yeah, even if it was such an easy win. Too bad Deimon doesn't have a couple more good players, otherwise it might have been a more interesting match."

From out of the corner of his eye Sena could see Sakuraba was giving him and Takami a confused look, Takami must have noticed it to because he quickly turned to face Sakuraba, an introduction spilling forth from his lips.

"Sakuraba, this is Kobayakawa Sena, Sena, this is Sakuraba Haruto."

Sena bowed politely, an action which Sakuraba mirrored, fidgeting a bit from the gazes being sent his way by several more tenacious fangirls.

"That catch during the first half was really awesome Sakuraba-san." Sena smiled up at him brightly. "More like that and soon no one will be able to intercept passes from Takami-niichan to you." "R-Right, thanks."

Sakuraba was then called over by the rather angry sounding coach, probably to be yelled at about how many passes he'd missed.

"I'd better go with him, the coach, when he's angry, is quite o force to face alone. You'll be coming to out next game, right?" "Of course, and I'm sure you'll win the Spring Tournament!"

That night as Sena did his homework like the diligent student he attempted to be, he couldn't help but ponder over the wonders of American Football. The mere thought of playing it when he had first heard about it nearly a year ago freaked him out. The entire reason he was training himself to become faster and faster was so that he would never have to worry about bullies again.

The games he had watched on television before had never really interested him too much, he'd watched them so that if Takami, Kotarou or even Agon and Unsui brought something up about it he'd know what they were talking about. But watching it happen just several feet away was a huge difference to watching it on a small television screen. So much was always going on, it felt like if you were to blink, you'd miss something incredibly important.

'American Football, it's an awesome game.' He absentmindedly doodled on his English homework. 'I wonder, if I was fast enough, could a little guy like me ever participate in such an amazing sport?'

But he quickly shooed those thoughts away. 'Just because I can outrun bullies doesn't mean I could outrun people like that number forty. Life on and off the field is completely different.'

Or so he told himself.


	10. Chapter 10

FASH: Ugh, working at a coffee shop in the morning is so annoying, to bad I need the money for my precious anime. Anyways, this right here is the second last chapter, and then after tomorrow I'm back to school and busy with homework

""-speech

''-thoughts

Sena was no stranger to Kotarou's complaints, he'd gotten used to his strange keyword which he used to describe everything and had pretty much gotten used to the way Juri and Kotarou acted around each other.

He'd known them both for over a year after all.

His interest in American Football had grown a substantial amount after watching the spring tournament and during the summer he found himself going around to watch various teams practice.

And that was where Kotarou's complaints came in to play.

It seemed that all Kotarou ever talked about was the player Akaba Hayato it was always 'not smart' this and 'not smart' that.

Sena couldn't see why though, Akaba was an amazing player, even if he was kind of strange and was always playing electric guitar, or using musical terms in his speech.

"Stupid teammates underestimating the kicker, not smart." Kotarou muttered under his breath after practice, running a comb through his hair.

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, I've never seen anyone kick more accurately than you." Kotarou seemed to perk up a bit and he puffed out his chest confidently. "Of course, I've got a one hundred percent accuracy rate, smart isn't it?" "Mm-hm, I bet Bando will do really good in the Autumn Tournament with you and Akaba-san on the team."

A sour look crossed over Kotarou's face at the mention of Akaba, but he didn't comment on it.

'The Autumn Tournament, then the Kantou Tournament, then the Christmas Bowl.' He desperately hoped that the White Knights, the Nagas and the Spiders would never have to go up against each other, he wouldn't know who to root for.

'And I hear the Nagas have won the Kantou tournament several years in a row. Agon-san and Unsui-san sure joined a tough team. I wonder if they would let first years play in such an important game?' But then again, it was Agon and Unsui, if anyone was an exception, they were.

'Agon-san doesn't even practice and he's awesome, I still can't get over that.'

He bid his goodbyes to Juri and Kotarou as the Spider's practice came to a close, leisurely making his way home.

When he made it home he quickly re-heated and ate his supper before going on a search, looking under and behind the couches in the living room, crawling along the floor of his parent's room and, still not having found what he was looking for, decided there was only one more place for it left to hide.

"Here Pitt, come on." He gently cooed as he crouched beside his bed and lured his kitten out.

He'd gotten her just a couple weeks ago since his parents had been pleased with the general increase of his grades. She was so adorable and soft, she still hid underneath pieces of furniture a lot of them time, but he absolutely loved it when she'd come out of hiding and let him run his fingers along her fur. "That's a good girl, you're such a sweetheart." He scooped her up into his arms and scratched behind her ears, smiling widely as she began to purr.

He'd been so excited to get her that he'd called Takami up and excitedly said. "I got my kitty!! I have to go now, but I got my kitten!" And promptly hung up.

He wondered how long Takami had stared at his phone after that, processing the information with both eyebrows slowly moving closer towards his hairline.

"You know what Pitt, you're so adorable, I hope you stay this cute forever." He sat down on his bed with Pitt in his lap, petting her slowly as his mind wandered.

'American Football, it really is an amazing sport.'

In the blink of an eye the Autumn Tournament came and went, he'd cheered for Akaba when he was given the Tokyo MVP Award even though the Bando Spiders hadn't been selected as one of the teams to represent the Kantou area.

And then when the Kantou tournament came up he had cheered for the Nagas and White Knights even as the teams battled each other, he had rooted for Agon and Unsui as they were sent out to 'turn the game around.'

And then, after an infinite number of matches, came the Christmas Bowl.

He'd never watched such an intense game, it seemed like during the entire duration of it he was on the edge of his seat and he felt as though he couldn't catch his breath, almost like he was taking part in this awesome event.

A strange feeling washed over him as he watched the game, it was something he couldn't quite put his finger on, but it made him want to get up and _do something_.

It made him want to compete.

'I want to see how I'd measure up against athletes like these guys.' He bit his lip, trying to keep from fidgeting around during the final quarter of the game.

'Maybe once I'm in high school I join the team, I'm not very strong and I don't have any experience on the field, but the one good thing about me is my speed.'

Of course, the only high school he was bothering to apply to was Deimon since it was close by and Mamori was there, which meant he'd be on the team with Hiruma, which meant he could tell no one of this plan because they would all tell him horror stories about the blond to dissuade him.

'And they'd probably think I'd get killed on the field and would try and get me to join a different club, like table tennis.' But really, as much as Hiruma scared him, Agon had scared him a lot more when he'd first met him, and Sena had years of running quickly of dodging people under his belt.

Soon enough the Christmas Bowl was over and Sena went into his regular routine of jogging, playing video games, playing with Pitt, sleeping and studying for his high school entrance exams. But even through all that the want to join the Deimon Devil Bats and prove that he was no longer the same useless gopher that he used to be did not fade.

'But as soon as they realized that I was playing such a dangerous sport Mamori-neechan and Takami-niichan wouldn't let me play, they'd probably go right up to Hiruma-san and say that I'm to fragile for it.' He sighed.

'Maybe if I was able to conceal my identity with an Eyeshield, like Akaba-san, but aren't you only allowed to wear an eyeshield if you have some sort of eye strain?'

Damn, this was hard to figure out.

'Well, if anyone would support me with this, I'm pretty sure Agon-san would, he knows I'm fast, but then again he might not like it if I was playing with Hiruma-san, since they're not really on good terms anymore.'

Were they ever really on good terms though? Or had they just been using each other?

Sena stored away those thoughts to ponder on for another day, figuring out how he'd be able to join the football team right now was more important than the strange, violent relationship of Agon and Hiruma.

'Well, Hiruma-san's pretty sly, he'd probably be able to fake the documentation I'd need to wear an eyeshield, or he could just blackmail whoever dared to question it.'

He'd heard many scary stories about the Devil's Handbook, he'd even created his own little theory that Hiruma could secretly take over the world with the blackmail material he'd had listed in there.

'What if I applied to be the manager, like Julie-neechan, but it was just a cover?'

No that wouldn't work, even if Mamori didn't think he was actually playing, he was pretty sure if he had anything to do with Hiruma, even just having a passing conversation, Mamori would suddenly be all over him, freaking out in a concerned motherly sort of way and would drag him off to a safe place where he would never have contact with the demonic quarterback again.

"Uhg, this is to hard to think about." He fell back onto his bed and stared up at the ceiling with a frown until he felt Pitt nuzzle against his leg.

"Aw, Pitt you're so cute." He moved to pick her up and laid back down with her on his chest.

"It's gonna take a while Pitt, but I'll figure this all out, you'll see. I'll join the American Football team if it's the last thing I do.

He conveniently ignored that with Hiruma as captain it could very well be the last thing he did.

"I don't mind if we don't make it to the Christmas Bowl, or even the Kantou tournament, if next year is anything like last year we won't have very many actual members anyways. I just really want to see how I measure up to these amazing athletes. I know I've just been training myself to outrun bullies, but I think I've gotten faster, or I've just kept on going really fast without slowing down. But, I just kind of want to prove to myself and everyone else that I've changed a lot, you know?"

Pitt purred in response.


	11. Chapter 11

FASH: Alright, I was going to end this here and then write up a sequel that starts off right where this ends when I have free time in the summer, but I figured even with school and work I still should be able to update once a week on weekends, so next week I'll have a new chapter up for you all. :)

""-speech

''-thoughts

Sena eyed the school courtyard warily. 'Where's Mamori-neechan?' He bit his lip, not nervous about the entrance exam results, he was pretty sure he passed, but he still disliked being surrounded by so many strangers.

"Sena, over here!" Mamori called out from atop a bench, waving him over heedless of the odd looks she was getting.

He made his way over to her and smiled brightly. "What's you exam number?" She asked as she stepped down from the bench. "Um..." Sena checked the paper he'd been carrying around. "Zero two one." "Alright, let's go see if you made it." She took his hand and lead him to where the exam results were posted up, muttering the number under her breath as she looked for it.

Sena on the other hand was keeping his eyes peeled for a certain blond quarterback.

'I know club recruitment is prohibited at the assembly, but from everything I've heard I wouldn't put it past Hiruma-san to try and sway some naive first years into thinking he's a good upperclassman and thus a good team captain.'

"There it is! Zero two one!" Mamori exclaimed and Sena let out a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness."

"And you used to be so horrible at math and English. I guess you owe it all to Takami-san and I." She elbowed him in the side jokingly before a more serious expression overtook her face. "You're going to be my underclassman again." "Mm-hm, we haven't gone to school together since elementary school." Sena replied, still on the lookout for Hiruma.

"Sena, con-" Mamori stopped abruptly and Sena turned to look at her. 'Con?'

"Oh yeah, I'll go get you a school information packet!" "Huh?" Sena stood still for a moment, then he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.

"Mamori-neechan, wait for me!" He called out nervously as he chased after her and cast a glance over his shoulder.

He could just make out a couple stray spikes of blonde hair from behind the building.

'I need some more time and mental preparation before I actually meet Hiruma-san for the first time.' Maybe he'd throw in some image training too, even though he'd never really seen Hiruma up close and wouldn't be able to visualize meeting him perfectly.

"Alright, here's everything you need." Mamori handed him several pamphlets. "And I know I've said it before, but I'll say it again. Out of all the people in this school there is one who you should never associate with for fear of your life, and that's Hiruma." She stared at him seriously. "Understand?"

"Yes, Mamori-neechan." 'But I guess I'll have to disappoint you on that.'

The next week passed in a flurry of activity: getting his school uniform, finding out his home room, buying his text books, mentally preparing himself to speak with Hiruma of his own free will. Stuff like that.

And then the day before his first day of high school Mamori had presented him with his very own cell phone.

'Having my own cell phone, it makes me feel so mature.' Of course his contact list was rather short, but he'd make friends eventually, maybe. 'Unless me hanging around the American Football clubhouse scares all potential friends away.'

As he readied himself for the first day of classes his phone vibrated as it received a text message from Takami that read:

Steer clear of bullies and if anyone tries to force you into running errands, say you'll rock-paper-scissors them for it.

And he received an eerily similar text from Mamori just before he went into class, even though he'd seen her and spoken with her on his way to school that morning.

'I'm not a little kid anymore, they don't need to worry about me so much.' But their sentiments made him smile all the same.

During home room as he introduced himself to the rest of the class he could practically _feel_ several pairs of eyes sizing him up. As he sat back down in his seat he turned around to find the owners of said eyes smirking at him darkly.

'I guess it was just to much too ask to be put into a class of nice pacifists.' He sighed and waited for the inevitable confrontation.

Sure enough, just as he suspected, when class was let out for lunch break the three approached him.

"Sena-kun, I'm Juumonji Kazuki, nice to meet you." Said the blond as he laid an arms across Sena's shoulders, Sena assumed he was the 'leader' of the trio.

"I'm Kuroki Kouji, we're friends now." Said the brunette, leaning in from Sena's right. "I'm Toganou Shouzou, we match each other quite well." Said the one with orange glasses as he leaned in from Sena's left.

'I wonder how many time I'll go through this during my life? No matter, I won't let myself get pushed around, I have stuff to do.'

"So, why don't you go and buy some bread for us?" Juumonji 'asked', the three of them all moving in a bit closer, but Sena wouldn't let that intimidate him.

"Actually," he began brightly, causing all three of his would be bullies to arch an eyebrow at him. "I have something very important to do, so I'm afraid you'll have to go get it yourself."

"Huh?" "Huuuh?!" "HUUUUH?"

Sena winced a little. 'Man, didn't anyone ever teach Kuroki-kun to use his indoor voice?'

Juumonji was frowning at him. "Look Sena, I don't think you realize what we're getting at here." "Oh no, I understand, it's just I really do have something very important to do." He quickly got out of his seat and was at the classroom door before any of them thought to hold him down.

"Sorry I can't help you guys out. Bye bye." He waved cutely to the shell shocked trio before taking off in search of the American Football clubhouse, adrenaline rushing through his system.

'I think that's the first time I actually stood up against bullies instead of just running away from them.' He took a deep breath to calm himself down as the small clubhouse came into sight. 'Alright Sena, relax, this is what you've been waiting for.'

He knocked on the door and opened it up without waiting for an answer. 'Aw, no one's around.' He looked around curiously. 'And it's a huge mess.' He toyed with the idea of waiting around for one of the two regular players, but decided against it.

'I'll come back after school, someone should be around then.'

He stepped out, closed the door and headed back towards the main building, passing by the back and catching sight of Juumonji, Kuroki and Toganou lounging around and having a smoke.

Normally he would have at least attempted to sneak by unseen, but when he saw that Toganou was leafing through a volume of Shonen Jump he couldn't help but walk towards him.

"Is that the latest volume?" He asked and Toganou turned around to give him a strange look, but nodded.

"Anything cool happen in Bleach?" "Yeah, but I wouldn't want to spoil it for ya." Toganou said in an unsure sounded voice, probably confused about how to deal with the oddly sociable brunette. Sena nodded in understanding and Kuroki stomped towards him.

"So," he began angrily, "what was this 'very important thing' you needed to do that only took five minutes?" He asked as he put out his cigarette against the wall.

"That," Sena moved his index finger to his lips and winked. "is a secret." He spun around on his heel and walked away.

"Weird kid." Kuroki commented, Juumonji nodded in agreement and Toganou shrugged, eyes glued to the pages in front of him.

'Man, bullies are oddly easy to deal with when you act confident and cutesy to throw them off.'

When the end of the school day rolled around Sena once again found himself standing in front of the American Football clubhouse, but this time he could hear people inside it.

"Fucking fatty, I'm going to the store to buy some sugarless gum. If anyone comes around tie them up and _don't let them leave until I get back_."

The door to the clubhouse swung open and Hiruma stepped out, pausing for a moment when he noticed there was someone in his way.

"What do you want, fucking shrimp?" He asked and in the background Sena could hear Kurita asking the blond to be a bit nicer.

Sena glanced around to make sure the coast was clear, half expecting Mamori to pop up from out of nowhere and drag Sena far away before he could open his mouth.

"I-" His voice caught in his throat and Hiruma gave him a dark look.

"I want to join the American Football Club." An excited shout was heard from inside the clubhouse and Hiruma smirked at him.

"Oh really? Why don't you come inside?" 'Said the spider to the fly.' Sena added on mentally, but he walked into the clubhouse as Hiruma stepped aside to make room for him.

Kurita happily lead him into a chair and made him some tea. "How many dozen sugars do you take?" He asked brightly as he fixed his own tea just the way he liked it. "J-Just one is fine." Sena replied. 'Ew, that looks so sugary.'

"Alright, let's get down to business." Hiruma was polishing a pistol and Sena tried not to let that, or the fact that he had no idea where the pistol had come from, bother him.

"First things first, name?" "Kobayakawa Sena." Hiruma set the pistol on the table and pulled out his Devil's Handbook. "First year huh? Not much info on you, _yet_." He grinned evilly. "Do you have any experience?" "No, but I've been to many games and I understand the rules pretty well, so you don't have to explain too much to me. "Alright, final question. What position do you want to play?

Sena set down his tea, clenched his fists and took a deep breath, this is what he had been waiting for. He looked Hiruma right in the eye.

"Running back."


	12. Chapter 12

FASH: Hello my lovely readers, I hope you enjoy this next chapter. Man, apparently I accidentally called Takami Takami-neechan in a chapter instead of nii-chan. Woah, big-sister!Takami, lol, my bad. (Sweatdrop)

""-speech

''-thoughts

"Running back eh?" Hiruma closed the Devil's Handbook with a large grin spreading across his lips. "Do you know how fast you can do the forty yard dash in?" "I can do it in under five seconds." Sean responded confidently, of course he'd only ever done the forty yard dash once with Takami, but he figured he must have gotten faster by now.

"Really, let's go check you out then." Hiruma grabbed onto his blazer and lifted him up from the chair and out of the clubhouse, Kurita not far behind.

Sena was thrown onto the football field and Hiruma pulled out a stopwatch from somewhere.

'I swear he must have sub-dimensional pockets to store all his stuff or something.' Sena thought as he got as he went to the yard line forty yards from Hiruma and prepared himself.

"Ready? GO!" Sena pushed himself forward quickly before settling into a more steady pace, quickly passing Hiruma and slowly down to a stop.

"Hiruma-kun, how did Sena-kun do?" Kurita asked, peering over Hiruma's shoulder at the stop watch curiously.

"He did it in 4.7 seconds." Hiruma said already digging around for his laptop to bring up some records. "Whaaaaat?" Kurita turned to Sena and took him by the hands. "Sena-kun, you're awesome!" "A-am I really?" Kurita nodded reverently. "You broke the five second wall that separates sprinters from ordinary people." He picked Sena up and began swinging him around. "With you on the team I'm sure we can make it to the Christmas Bowl! I can't believe you weren't famous for your speed in middle school."

"Hmm. Kobayakawa Sena's Middle School fitness tests." Hiruma began, having found the information he was looking for. "You were best in school only at side step exercises." He threw Sena a look. "So I suppose that means you didn't want people to know how fast you really were, bullies perhaps?"

"Where'd you get that information?" Sena asked, but his question was ignored.

"You've developed a phenomenal burst speed by being a gopher for bullies, that's how you got that rocket start." Hiruma was opening up a bag of dog treats and Sena tried to ignore the action. "But you're speed eases up after you think you've escaped the majority of the danger. But if we keep the danger right behind you." Hiruma smirked and stuck a bone shaped treat in Sena's shirt. "You won't allow yourself to slow down."

Sena did not like where this was going _at all_.

Hiruma sucked in a lung-ful of air and began walking towards what had been Sena's starting point before bellowing out: "CEREBERUS!"

Sena looked around wildly for the hell hound to appear. 'Oh God, will I be able to outrun him this time?'

Appearing like some sort of demon out of hell cam Cereberus, already growling and in a bad mood.

'Maybe he remembers me from that time I tripped over him?' Sena thought nervously, watching as the dog's claw flashed menacingly as it leapt forward.

"HIIIIIII!" Sena turned tail and ran as fast as he possibly could in Hiruma's direction, not bothering to stop this time as he tried to keep himself from becoming the mad dog's chew toy.

"YA-HA! Look at that skill!" Hiruma pumped his fist with the stop watch into the air and grabbed Kurita with his other hand. "Forty yards in 4.2 seconds, it's a new high school record! That's top speed even for the NFL!" Hiruma turned to yell at Sena, who had sadly been caught by the ravenous beast.

"No one can stop you, fucking shrimp!" Hiruma exclaimed, already pulling out an application form from a duffle bag that had been left on the field.'No one except your dog apparently.' The brunette thought from his rather painful position on the ground.

Kurita stumbled towards Sena, shooing Cereberus away effectivly. "S-Sena-kun, you really are amazing, not even Shin can touch that, his best speed is the forty yards in 4.4 seconds." "Shin-san is amazing." Kurita smiled widely. "But you're even more amazing!"

Sena found that rather hard to believe. "But I only run this fast when I'm being chased by Cereberus right? On the field I'll still just be 4.7."

Kurita seemed shocked that Sena thought of it as only 4.7, but wasn't able to comment on it as Hiruma was already dragging Sena back to the clubhouse.

"Come on fucking fatty, we've got some stuff to go over in private." Hiruma called back, glancing around to make sure no one had seen Sena's amazing feat.

"Here's your application form." He said as they entered the messy building, pushing the slip of paper into Sena's hands and grinning in a spectacularly evil way as Kurita smiled soothingly.

"You've got golden legs, and since I don't want to have to go through _dealing_ with teams who want to scout you and steal you away-" Hiruma strutted over to a table and picked up a helmet with an eyeshield.

"From now on when you're on the field you will abandon the name Kobayakawa Sena and go by Eyeshield 21!"

'Eyeshield 21? Like Akaba-san? Well, that solves one problem at least.'

"Alright, and while we're at it could I pretend to be the manager? Because I have a really over protective older sister figure-" 'And older brother figure, and older friends.' "And she'll get suspicious if I'm not walking home with her everyday with out a good reason. But if she finds out I'm on the team she'll want me to quit."

Hiruma rose an eyebrow. "Who is it?" "Anezaki Mamori." Hiruma nodded in understanding. "I see, the last thing I want is for that annoyance to be flitting around, interrupting practice."

Sena frowned a bit at the annoying comment, but did nothing otherwise. 'I suppose Mamori-neechan has been the only one who bothers standing up to Hiruma-san, so he probably does find her annoying.'

"So, do we have morning practice tomorrow?" Hiruma grinned and pressed his index finger against Sena's forehead. "You bet your ass we do, I expect you to be here right on damn time too at seven o' clock."

Sena smiled brightly. "Of course, I'll be here bright and early tomorrow." He turned and walked out of the clubhouse.

Hiruma and Kurita watched him go.

"Hiruma-kun, that was the first time someone willingly joined our team since we entered high school." "Yeah." Hiruma was fooling around with his laptop, searching for some extra info on his newest recruit.

'Kobayakawa Sena eh? That shrimp is pretty wimpy looking, but he's got balls.' Not many people looked him in the eye, or requested things of him. 'This year is going to be fun.' He grinned once more and Kurita sweatdropped.

The next morning as Mamori walked past Sena's house on her way to school she saw Sena just coming out the door, curious, since as far as she knew Sena had no reason to go to school so early, she snuck up behind him and tapped his shoulder.

"Hm, Mamori-neechan? What are you going to school so early for?" "Disciplinary committee meeting, how about you, it's unusual for you to be out of bed so early."

Sena smiled brightly. "Yesterday I joined the American Football Club." Mamori turned to him, eyes widening in shock. "The American Football Club? But I told you to stay away from Hiruma! And football is to dangerous! You're slight, you're delicate, you're frail, not to be mean or anything, but you're just plain weak!" 'That's pretty harsh, but it's good to know she cares enough to get worried.' Besides, Sena had expected this reaction.

"Don't worry Mamori-neechan, I won't actually play, I'm the team manager." "Oh, that's a relief." Mamori held her hand to her chest and sighed before perking up. "Wait, then why are you going to school so early."

"Administrative staff meeting." Sena tightened his tie and smiled. 'Now Mamori-neechan won't wonder what I'm up to if we can't walk to and from school together.'

He passed by the football field on the way to the clubhouse and saw Kurita practicing enthusiastically. 'He's already suited up and everything, I wonder what time he got here this morning?' He kept his eyes focused on Kurita as he pummeled his equipment, not noticing Hiruma blocking his path until he walked into him.

"H-Hiruma-san?" Hiruma glanced down at him, blowing a bubble calmly and shutting his Devil's Handbook..

"Hey fucking shrimp, have you ever practiced before at all? Or do I have to show you what to do?" "Well, I've seen people practice, so I think I should be okay for the majority of the stuff." Sena replied uneasily, the majority of his confidence having been used up yesterday. 'Thank God I decided to go and watch everyone practice once in a while.'

Hiruma nodded in apparent satisfaction. "Get into your gear and don't forget the eyeshield." He ordered before passing by Sena and walking towards Kurita. "Oi fucking fatty, what time did you get here?"

Sena stepped into the clubroom, carefully stepping around piles of dirty uniforms and unused equipment to the table where his uniform had been laid out for him.

'My first uniform from my first club.' Sena ran his fingers along the helmet and over the eyeshield, feeling somewhat sentimental. 'I wonder if Hiruma-san knows about Akaba-san? I hope no one gets upset that I'm using his code name.' He frowned slightly but decided to stop that train of thought. If it happened, it happened, and since it was Hiruma who had given him his on-field identity it wasn't like he was going to try and change it for fear of making the older boy angry.

He quickly glanced around, the clubhouse was rather cramped and there appeared to be no separate area for changing, unless the door to it was hidden under a pile of stuff.

So he quickly turned around and locked the door tightly before stripping out of his school uniform and putting on the multiple pieces of protective equipment (knee pads, thigh pads, rib pads etc.) before slipping the uniform on over that, and fumbling with his helmet until it was secure.

When he came back to the field Hiruma was yelling at Kurita, probably because the piece of equipment he had been pummeling early had broken, but Hiruma was quick to cool down and said something that sounded suspiciously like: "I'll just force the principal to get us a new one."

'Kurita-san's strength is pretty scary, but Hiruma-san's lack of morals is even scarier.'

Sena's first practice of the year was fairly easy, he tried out the ladder drill, watched Kurita and Hiruma do a forty yard dash and ran some laps while Hiruma watched him closely with a rather unnerving grin on his lips.

"The Spring Tournament is ours!" Hiruma exclaimed after Sena had run five laps around the field and was still going strong.

"Oh, that's right, the game's coming up." Kurita said and Sena stilled his run to walk over to his teammates.

"We'd better start gathering support players." Hiruma said as he began gathering up his equipment.

"Hiruma-san, when is the first game?" Sena asked curiously.

"Tomorrow." Hiruma replied cooly, to which both Kurita and Sena replied with a rather loud: "No way!"

"So we need eight more players for tomorrow's game, so round up some people during class, whoever brings in the least gets the penalty game." He ended on a sinister note before strutting away.

'P-penalty game? Hiruma-san sure knows who to get people motivated.' Sena sighed and Kurita patted his back soothingly. "Don't worry Sena-kun, I'm sure we'll both get enough people that neither of us will have to go through one of Hiruma-kun's punishment games." Kurita said optimistically before heading back to the clubhouse.

'I suppose it's a bit mean of me, but I kind of thought that Hiurma-san would be able to gather up eight more players by himself. I guess even he needs some help sometimes, maybe not everyone is swayed by blackmail and his evil aura.' Sena clenched his fists determinedly. 'That's it, if Hiruma-san can make people join the team by being himself, surely if I act the polar opposite of him, nice and sweet and respectful, people would want to join because they wouldn't be afraid of me!'

Or at least that was what he told himself, by the end of the day his plan hadn't worked at all. 'Maybe mimicking Hiurma-san would have been easier.' He slumped against his desk as the last class of the day ended.

Most people at this school, even if you were being nice to them, seemed to cringe whenever you mentioned the American Football team. The only ones who didn't were the first-years who didn't know any better, yet.

He lifted his head off of the desk, watching as his classmates left the room without a care in the world. 'I'm doomed aren't I? Well, Hiruma-san can't do anything too bad, since he needs me to be in working order for the game.' He turned his head, caught sight of Juumonji, Kuroki and Toganou and decided to ask them just for the hell of it.

"Do you guy want to play American Football?" He asked dully and, just like he had predicted, they scoffed at his question.

'That's too bad, they have pretty good builds. If I were like Hiruma-san I could just reveal that I know their deepest, darkest secrets and force them to join.' But alas, he didn't think he would ever be able to stoop that low, so he would just have to see how the recruiting job was going for the others.

As expected Hiruma had already gathered a fair amount of people, but he and Kurita hadn't convinced anyone to join yet.

'Kurita-san looks so depressed.' "I'll go ask some more people, don't worry, I'm sure I'll be able to find a couple people willing to play." Kurita sniffled and nodded.

'If we don't get enough people and have to forfeit our first game we won't be able to play until the Autumn Tournament, I don't think I can wait that long, just practicing and sitting on the sidelines as I watch games, I want to play!' He rushed around to the various clubrooms he hadn't visited yet, getting resounding 'no's from everyone until the only clubroom left was for the track and field team.

He carefully opened the door and spotted one person inside. 'That makes it easier, it's not as scary talking one on one with people you don't know as opposed to ten on one.'

To his delight and surprise the boy, Ishimaru Tetsuo, agreed to play. "Hiruma is recruiting first years right? If I play with you guys I can see their athletic ability and then maybe I can convince the promising ones to join the track team." He explained.

"Great! So I can count on you tomorrow?" "Tomorrow! No way, can't do it!" "Wh-why?" Sena cursed his rotten luck.

"Well you see I've got a job delivering local magazines and I've got to deliver them all by tomorrow afternoon." Sena stepped forward. "I'll help you deliver them, just please say you'll play." Ishimaru sent him a questioning look but relented.

"Alright, I'll give you half the map and we'll meet up back here when we're done." "Alright." Sena smiled brightly and nodded. "You can count on me."


	13. Chapter 13

FASH: Thanks to everyone who's been reviewing, it's really nice to know that you guys like this so far, I hope I don't screw anything up and let you down. 

"'-speech

''-thoughts

Sena delivered the final magazine with a sigh of relief. 'Now Ishimaru-san can play tomorrow.' Sure he'd only been able to recruit one person, but there was no doubt in his mind that Hiruma had been able to round up at least a dozen 'eager' players. He'd been able to last year after all.

He made his way back to the school and waited around for about ten minutes until Ishimaru showed up on his bicycle, words of thanks and promises about the coming day sprouting from his lips. 

"I look forward to playing with y-" Sena paused and inwardly cursed when Ishimaru threw him a look. 

"Play? But I thought you were the manager." "Oh, I am. It's just that in their own way managers play too, right? Not on the field, but on the sidelines, you know?" Sena added nervously, thankful that Ishimaru seemed to believe his explanation.

'Better safe than sorry, I should probably keep my identity to myself, the more people who know means the more of a chance Mamori-neechan will find out who I am.' "In any case, I'll see you tomorrow Ishimaru-san, have a good night." Ishimaru waved and left the school grounds as Sena turned around to head to the club house where a concerned Kurita and ticked off Hiruma were waiting for him.

"Sena-kun where have you been?" "Yeah, I was about to send out a 'search party' for you." Sena's eye slowly moved from the smiling Kurita to the grinning Hiruma, who was holding a small plastic bag labeled 'Sena's Hair' with a few strands inside. 'I'm not sure I even want to know how he got that.'

"I got us a player!" He smiled brightly and moved to stick one magnet above his name, of course it came as no surprise that Hiruma had at least a dozen magnets stuck in his section, but at least Sena had been able to do something to help out.

"God you guys are damn pathetic! Especially you fucking fatty! You always let them get away if they don't feel like playing, even the new guy was able to round up someone." He quickly turned to Sena and pointed one of his long fingers straight at him. "But don't think that makes you any better you fucking shrimp, I'm the one who ended up doing most of the work!"

Hiruma took a deep breath through his nose and let it out through his mouth, the air hissing slightly as it was pushed through his teeth. Apparently it had calmed him down slightly, unless he was still raging on the inside and just didn't want to scare his new player away with it.

"In any case, we're going to kick some serious ass at the game tomorrow, so you'd better get home and rest up, because if you show any signs of exhaustion tomorrow during the game you are dead meat." Sena tried not to let the threat get to him. 'I'm sure this is just how Hiruma-san shows care about my health.' "Alright, I'll just be off then. Goodnight guys, see you in front of the station tomorrow morning." He waved and exited the club house calmly, making his way towards his house.

'Tomorrow is going to be my first game.' He smiled and glances up at the dark, cloudy sky. 'My first game, I hope I don't mess anything up.' The smile faded slightly. 'But I'm sure that I've watched enough practices and games to know everything that goes on, I'm all set for tomorrow.' He held a hand up to his racing heart and the smile came back. 'I don't think I've ever been this excited about anything before.'

He entered his house in high spirits, quickly greeting his mother who was in the living room and rushing up the stairs to his room.

"Hey there Pitt." He cooed at his kitten, slowly leaning down to scratch behind her ears. "Guess what I'm going to be doing tomorrow."

"Sena, Takami-kun called for you a while ago, I told him you'd call him back once you got home. Why were you so late anyways?" His mother peered into his room curiously.

"I told you didn't I? I'm the manager for the American Football club." "Yes, but you're not going to be staying this late every night are you?" Sena scooped Pitt up into his arms.

"Well, I shouldn't be, it's just I was helping to round up a couple more people for our game tomorrow, we were a couple short and I don't want our team to be disqualified before they can even play one game." 

His mother smiled brightly at him. "That's sweet of you. Have you made friends with any of your upperclassmen yet?"

Sena pursed his lips together for a moment, not quite sure how to answer that question. He supposed Kurita was his friend, but Hiruma... "Well, sort of I guess. I haven't known them very long though, so I'm sure they'll warm up to me after a while." His mother nodded along with what he said. "Good good, now go and call Takami-kun, he's been waiting long enough." She made her way back downstairs and Sena carefully set Pitt down on his bed, sitting down beside her as he pulled out his cell phone and going through his still relatively short list of contacts before highlighting Takami's name.

He hit the 'send' button and pressed the phone up to his ear, smile widening hen he heard Takami's voice greet him from the other end.

"Hi Takami-niichan, mom told me that you called?" "Ah yes, Anezaki told me that you're the manager of the American Football club at your school, congratulations on that... Listen, if Hiruma ever tries anything-" "Don't worry Takami-niichan, I'm sure Mamori-neechan will protect me from Hiruma-san if he does anything outrageous." "Ah, you're probably right about that." Takami chuckled a bit from the other end. "Anyways, we're sending over Sakuraba and Shin to scout your game against the Cupids tomorrow, they'll probably be able to help you tape the game, Shin will tell you what plays to pay attention to and stuff like that, do you want me to tell them to look out for you."

Sena's grip loosened and he almost dropped the phone. 'Damn, if they're looking out for me but can't find me they'll know something is up, if worse comes to worse they'll probably tell Takami-niichan that Hiruma-san is bullying me and then he and Mamo- Hiruma-san! That's it!'

"Sorry Takami-niichan, but I don't think Hiruma-san would appreciate me sitting with, well, 'the enemy'." Sena responded smoothly and Takami 'Hmm'ed in agreement.

"I guess so, especially since we'll be your second opponent in the tournament." "Y-yeah, that too." 'Our second opponent? Oh, this is bad.' "Anyways, I'll let you get to sleep, I'll be crossing my fingers for you guys tomorrow." "Thanks Takami-niichan, goodnight." "'Night Sena." 

The brunette hung up, apprehension slowly creeping in. Even if they didn't expect him to sit with them, Sakuraba and Shin, well, maybe not Shin, would probably look around for him during the game, that in itself wasn't too bad, he could just claim that he was in some obscure area to get better footage. What he was most worried about was Shin.

He hadn't talked to the older boy all to much, he just admired him as a player from afar, hoping that someday he could be that cool, but he'd seen Shin enough times to know something very important about the other boy.

Shin didn't need to look at your face to tell who you were, he looked at your body type and muscle mass and just knew right off the bat, and Sena had the feeling that even with all the extra equipment on Shin would still be able to see through his disguise.

'Maybe if he's far enough away on the stands he won't notice. I mean, it's not like everyone's body type is completely unique, he probably won't notice.' He told himself in order to calm down, stroking the soft fur of Pitt as she napped beside him.

'Everything will go fine tomorrow, there's no way Hiruma-san will let someone figure out who I am.' He quickly changed into his pajamas and moved in under the covers, careful not to disturb Pitt and her resting place at the foot of his bed.

Sena woken up the next morning feeling refreshed and less anxious about his 'identity crisis' as he dubbed it. He took a quick shower and made himself a small breakfast before heading off with a quick wave to his parents.

The trek to the train station was a quick and easy endeavor and as he arrived Sena looked around at the sometimes familiar faces of the people who had obviously been forced to come here.

But there were three faces he did most definitely did not expect to see in the crowd. 

"Why are you guys here?" He asked curiously, had they changed their minds?

Kuroki scoffed, Toganou didn't even bother looking up from his manga and Juumonji frowned. "That bastard Hiruma cornered us a couple minutes after we left the class and made us promise to play in today's game." 'Ah, he blackmailed them.' 

Kuroki growled and punched one clenched fist into an open palm. "Damn it, this is pissing me off, I wanted to play that new game at the arcade today." He threw a glare at Sena, as if it was all his fault.

'Well, it might be my fault, Hiruma-san might have seen or heard me asking them to play, and then when they said no to he decided just to recruit them for the hell of it.'

"Do you know what position Hiruma-san is forcing you to play?" All three of the shrugged and went back to ignoring everyone but themselves, Sena took that as his cue to leave.

'But still, I wonder what kind of blackmail material Hiruma-san has on them.' They really didn't seem like people who had something to hide.

Soon enough Hiruma showed up, Kurita trailing behind him pulling a large cart with all of their equipment on it.

'So that's what his punishment game was for not getting any players.' Sena looked at the pile of equipment with wide eyes. 'I wouldn't even be able to pull even a forth of that weight, thank God I found Ishimaru-kun.' 

The train ride to the football field was fairly uneventful, most of the players formed their own little groups and lowly whispered about how truly evil Hiruma was and questioning how the blond had even gotten such information on them in the first place. Meanwhile Sena swore he could see Hiruma's ears twitch and his smirk grow every time a new theory was created. 

'I guess crazy theories and rumors about him makes his blackmailing job easier.' Sena sighed as he heard someone say that maybe Hiruma was actually an alien sent to conquer the human race. 'If that were true I'm sure he would have already done it by now.'

He quickly sent Mamori a text about his first game, not wanting her to feel out of the loop about anything, especially if it meant she would get curious about how his club activities were going.

'I'm pretty sure she's going shopping with some of her friends today, so it should be alright to tell her the place and time...' He put his phone away and took out the tournament brackets for the Tokyo games.

'First we have Koigahama, then we have Oujou, then-' "Huh?" Sena spotted smoke slowly drifting up and he glanced at the bottom of the sheet when Hiruma was holding a lighter.

"AACK!" He let go of the paper fearfully. 'Hiruma-san is insane to do something so dangerous!' Said insane, dangerous person was currently glaring at him. 

"Don't bother thinking about the unnecessary. We're gonna win the game today! That's all we have to think about." He demanded and Sena nodded along. 'But even if you say that, I still know who we're up against next.' "But if all that's left on the chart is today's game, I won't be able to scout out the other teams we'll go up against." Hiruma smirked at him, apparently glad that someone else shared his confidence about winning their game against the Cupid's.

"Don't worry about that, fucking shrimp, I already have all the necessary information." He let out a cackle and he walked away, leaving Sena to once again wonder about his team captain's sanity.

'In any case, Koigahama Cupids are the team that's infamous for always bringing their girlfriends to the game right? Maybe having a 'common enemy' like that will help unite the team.' Sena threw a look at the teenagers around him, crowded together in their small groups, not bothering to talk with anyone outside of their group.

'I hope it does anyways, it'll be harder to play when we don't all have a somewhat common goal.'

They arrived at the field just as the other game ended and Sena grabbed a box of cleats to hand out, watching the other players get off of the field. 'We might play the winner of that game, someday, I don't think we'll be able to beat Oujou, so I've got to make sure that I play my best in this game.'

Ishimaru took a pair of cleats and Sena caught sight of the bottoms of them just before the older boy put them on. "Oh, wait Ishimaru-san, those are for artificial turf!" Ishimaru turned them over to look at the lack of spikes and put them back in the box. "I'll go find some cleats for grass, I'll be right back."

Sena rushed back over to the pile of equipment. 'Thank goodness I caught that, it could have been a disaster just waiting to happen.' Already everything he'd learned from just watching practices were coming in handy. 'But I wonder why Kurita-san even brought these? Maybe Hiruma-san just wanted him to bring more stuff than we needed to make it even more like a punishment.' 

He found the boxes of cleats for grass and began carrying them over to his teammates just as Koigahama started their warm up exercises, their girlfriends hovering over their shoulders sweetly.

Just as Sena wished would happen the sight of their opposing team doing stuff with their girlfriends before the game sent their players into a fit, but he hadn't prepared himself for the repercussions of the fit.

"Hey manager, you've got cheerleaders for our side right?" One of the players asked and suddenly they all seemed to turn to look at him.

"Uh, well the thing is... They're not really coming at all. I mean, uh... That's strange?" "Do your job team manager!" One demanded, stomping forward and Sena backed up quickly. 'I guess girls are more important then the game to these guys.' "Uh, maybe if I could just, um... H-Hiruma-san!" He turned and dashed, hoping that maybe the quarterback had predicted this and had blackmailed a couple students of the female variety to cheer for them.

He was distracted from his task, however, when he heard his name being called by a rather familiar voice. 

"Sena-kun!" Sakuraba was waving at him, while beside him Shin stood still, but nodded to him in recognition.

'Ignoring them just because we're on different teams would just be too mean.' Sena thought as he waved back, looking around to make sure no one was watching. The majority of his teammates were glaring at the Cupid's captain as he blatantly made fun of their lack of cheerleaders, but a pair of narrowed green eyes were watching with interest.

'Damn it, Hiruma-san saw.'

Sakuraba followed Sena's line of sight and winced as he caught sight of the blonde, probably remembering when he'd had a gun pointed to his back and was forced to take a picture last year.

Thankfully their attention was diverted from the demonic captain when a loud cry of: "Sakuraba-kun!" Was heard from above, where a relatively small group of fangirls were, well, fangirling and arguing amongst themselves about who could talk to him first.

'Poor Sakuraba-san, I wonder if girls stalk him everywhere he goes? I bet they keep tabs on all the places he goe-' "AHH!" One of the girls had slipped over the railing and before Sena could even think to react Shin was already in motion, dashing forward and catching her as if it were the easiest thing in the world.

'Shin-san is as amazing as ever.' Sena thought as he stared at the older boy, breathless, as he asked the girl if she was okay. She responded with a hesitant yes, then Sakuraba came into view and repeated the question, causing the girl to scream his name and faint in Shin's arms.

Both Shin and Sakuraba sighed, as though this was a common occurrence to them, which it could very well be, before more shouts of Sakuraba's name had the tall boy running for his life as two other girls chased him.

And then, as if she hadn't passed out in Shin's arms mere moments before, the other girl sprung up with a seemingly endless amount of energy and ran after the idol as well.

Shin slowly stood up and looked at Sena, shrugging his shoulders as if to say: 'Fangirls, what can you do?' And Sena nodded in understanding, waving once more as Shin went off in the same direction as Sakuraba.

"Sena-kun, do you know Sakuraba Haruto and Shin Seijuro?" Kurita asked curiously and Sena felt a chill go up his spine, probably because Hiruma was right behind him, Devil's Handbook open, pen in hand, eyes searching for answers.

"Well, sort of, because I know Takami-niichan." "Nii-chan?" Hiruma practically hissed back, scribbling furiously in his book. "I'm gonna have to ask you some questions fucking shrimp, after the game. You're on the bench today."

"Wh-what? Why?" "You're our secret weapon and I don't want the guys from Oujou finding out about you just yet, for reasons you probably already know about." He paused to give Sena a meaningful look.

'Ah, I suppose Hiruma-san knows that I know who we're playing in the next game.'

"But if you're down by even one point, you can find a way to make them leave and I can play, right?" He asked hopefully and Hiruma's eyes brightened.

"Of course fucking shrimp, just let me handle that when the time comes. But for now get your ass on the bench and tape the game."


	14. Chapter 14

FASH: Happy Easter! I worked 7-3 the last three days, I art dead due to coffee.

""-speech

''-thoughts

Sena sighed as he taped the game from the bench. 'I was really excited about this game, I really wanted to play.' He bit his lip. 'I guess being a secret weapon isn't as fun as I thought it would be.'

Neither teams were making any leeway so far, all of the Cupid's offensive maneuvers were made incomplete by Kurita's awesome defense. Juumonji, Kuroki and Toganou had been forced to become linemen, but they didn't seem to be putting forth much effort.

'If I were in the game, maybe, maybe...' He trailed off, not wanting to sound too overly confident. 'Maybe I could have scored a touchdown by now.'

Just telling himself that made him want to play and test himself even more.

'After all, there's absolutely no way we can defeat Oujou.' He looked up to the small crowd of spectators where Shin and Sakuraba were. 'So this will be out last game of the Spring Tournament, I want to have some actual, competitive game experience before the Autumn Tournament.' 

He bit his lip again and crossed his fingers for an opportunity to play. 

It was nearing the end of the game with less then a minute to go when Kurita tackled the Cupid's running back near the ten yard line, way too close for comfort.

'They'll probably be able to make a field goal from this distance, and there's not much time left.' Sena fidgeted nervously as he watched Hiruma speaking with Ishimaru lowly. 'I guess Hiruma-san will try to stop the kick and then the game will go into overtime... Maybe I'll get to play then?'

The play began and Ishimaru dashed forward, arms outstretched, but the Cupid's kicker was fast and the ball was in the air before Ishimaru could stop it.

Sena watched the events before him unfold, mouth slowly dropping open.

The ball grazed Ishimaru's finger tips, just enough for it to change course and it was caught by Satake, the dark haired boy who Hiruma had recruited from the basketball club, he stared at the ball for half of a second before awkwardly throwing it to Yamaoka, the other boy from the basketball team.

'Clearly they're too used to basketball to realize that they are allowed to run with the ball in this sport.'

Yamaoka took a good look at the football players barreling in his direction before tossing it over to Ishimaru, who caught it out of sheer luck and began running to the other team's end zone.

'I can't believe we intercepted that! Our team is amazing.' Sena watched as Ishimaru passed multiple players, none of them quite able to keep up with the star of the track team, and soon enough.

"Touchdown! Ya-ha!"

'Man, we must have the devil's luck.' Sena took a good look at Hiruma and decided that it was true enough. 'But next time, it won't be luck. Even if it takes everything I have, I want to score at least one touchdown against Oujou.' Sena turned off the video camera, placed it beside him carefully and clenched his fists determinedly. 'At least one touchdown, and then losing won't seem as bad as it will be.'

Hiruma was making his way towards the bench, ignoring the massive amounts of cheering coming from the field.

"Hiruma-san, I-" Hiruma held a hand up in a signal from Sena to stop talking and he grinned at the younger boy. "Don't worry, I just didn't want them to find out about our ace in the hole, you'll be playing in the next game fucking shrimp, hell, I'd make you play even if you didn't want to." His grin widened slightly and his eyes flashed in what was either a menacing or comforting sort of way, or maybe it was a strange, inconsistent mixture of the two. 

In any case Sena smiled brightly at him, too happy at the opportunity to play to be frightened of Hiruma, besides, his willingness to play seemed to have put him on his captain's good side, Hiruma hardly ever pointed guns at him.

"And now that we've had this little talk, I want you to tell me something." Hiruma said lowly, taking out his Devil's Handbook and a pen, eyes heavy lidded as he leaned in close and Sena was horrified to feel blood rush to his cheeks.

But Hiruma didn't seem to notice his blush, or if he did he had already filed away the information for later investigation, and instead demanded that Sena tell him how, exactly, he knew the quarterback for the White Knights and why he addressed him as 'Nii-chan'.

His devious scheme was foiled, however, as Mamori suddenly popped up, seemingly from nowhere, and demanded that he stop bullying Sena.

"Mamori-neechan, you came to watch the game?" Sena asked happily, glad for the distraction, Mamori pursed her lips thoughtfully. "Well, it's more like I wanted to check up on you and make sure everything was going okay." She threw a very unsubtle glare in Hiruma's direction and he glared right back at her.

Sena, ever the pacifist, lifted up his hands. "Hiruma-san is being very nice to me Mamori-neechan, you don't have to worry about me so much." "Umm-hmm." Mamori replied, eyes still locked on Hiruma, clearly not believing anything Sena said.

Several meters behind Mamori Sakuraba sent him a tentative wave, clearly not wanting to be noticed by Hiruma, and Sena sent a small wave back, mouthing: 'Goodbye.'

Thankfully both Hiruma and Mamori seemed to be too into their staring contest to notice.

"Sena-kun, Sena-kun! Has Hiruma-kun told you what team we're up against next?" Kurita asked so happily that Sena felt kind of mean, telling him the truth. "Oujou White Knights." Immediately Kurita's smile faded, but Mamori seemed to perk up and turned her attention back to Sena.

"Oujou, that's Takami-kun's team isn't it?" Sena nodded and she smiled. "Takami-kun is such a nice young man, it's too bad not all American Football players are like him." She clasped her hands together and threw a discreet look in an uncaring Hiruma's direction. He was too busy 'calming' Kurita down to care about anything that sprouted from the girl's mouth.

"Anyways Sena, if you ever feel like he's working you too hard, or you want to stop but he won't let you, just remember that you can tell me, I'll make sure everything will end up okay." She ruffled his hair fondly and Sena's smile was laced with embracement. "Don't worry Mamori-neechan, I'm not a little kid anymore, I can take care of myse-" "Oi, fucking shrimp, start gathering up the equipment." "I'll get right to it Hiruma-san... Anyways, I can take care of myself, Hiruma-san isn't so bad as long as you stay on his good side." He gave her a reassuring smile and she smiled back uneasily.

Soon enough everything had been gathered up and everyone was back on the train home, most of the teammates talking with each other excitedly or nervously, since now then knew they were up against the White Knights next.

Juumonji's group stayed silent, apparently they were still pissed off about having to play in the game, and now they'd be forced to play in another one.

'Well, I'm sure being on the line must count as some sort of anger management, maybe they secretly liked pushing the opposing players around but don't want anyone else to know?' Sena had to hold back a fit of laughter at the thought. "Closeted American Football fans, they secretly liiiiike iiiit." He whispered to himself, unaware of a shadow looming over him.

"Uh, are you talking to yourself?" Juumonji asked dryly and Sena almost jumped off of his seat in shock. "Nope! Definitely not." He shook his head furiously and Juumonji's eyebrows slowly rose, but he turned back to Kuroki and Toganou without commenting on it anymore.

'Great, now Juumonji-kun thinks I'm crazy.' He sighed, more because he felt the need to feel dramatic than out of an actual emotional need to express his distress.

Upon reaching the station the players quickly began to get off of the train, probably trying to get away before Hiruma forced some extra training on them, leaving Kurita, Hiruma and Sena to bring the equipment back to the school.

Well, Kurita carried the majority of the equipment, Sena carried two boxes of cleats, and Hiruma carried his Devil's Handbook and whatever concealed weapons he had on him at the time. 

And once they reached the school they began putting the equipment away, which was quite hazardous to Sena's health considering how many times he tripped over the various items lying around on the floor of the clubroom. "Hiruma-san, maybe we should clean up the clubroom a bit?" The blond grunted and Kurita didn't pause in his unloading of the equipment in a haphazard manner. 

'I guess that means that I'll be doing this by myself.' He took off his blazer and rolled up his sleeves, just leaning over to pick some stray footballs off of the ground when his cell phone began to ring.

He dug around in his backpack and flipped his phone open, raising it to his ear with a chipper: "Hello?"

"Hey there Sena, I watched you're game, I'm surprised Sakuraba managed to tape it all without getting chased away by crazy fangirls." 

Hiruma's ears twitched as he recognized the voice on the phone and he slowly began to lean in behind Sena, who was quick to notice and started tensing up.

"Yeah, pretty amazing ending to a game eh? You can really tell that some of our teammates aren't used to American Football yet." "Yeah, it was pretty lucky that you guys were able to pass and catch the ball without fumbling or losing possession." "Yeah, I suppose so..." There was silence for a few moments until Takami whispered, almost so lowly that Sena had to strain to hear him. "Hiruma is right behind you isn't he?" "Uh, yeah." "Well, I'll be seeing you at Seisen Field on the seventeenth at the latest, but I might drop by to see how everything's going before then." He said in a no nonsense manner before speaking a little louder than he had to.

"Hiruma, if you so much as look at Sena wrong, I'll sic Shin after you." Hiruma chuckled deeply, but didn't otherwise respond. 

"Anyways, bye Sena." "Bye Takami-niichan." Sena clicked the phone shut and before Hiruma even had a chance to grab his Devil's Handbook and a pen he started the explanation the older boy had been waiting to hear.

"My mom is friends with Takami-niichan's mom, a couple years back she started setting me up on play dates with her friends' children because she wanted me to have friends, and I know Shin-san and Sakuraba-san because sometimes I'd go watch the White Knights practice or play. And that's about it." He said without remorse, because Hiruma would have found out sooner or later anyways, and this way he could still keep a couple things to himself, like knowing Agon, Unsui and Akaba, who Sena was fairly certain Hiruma stole his 'Eyeshield 21' identity from. 

"Interesting, any other note worthy things you'd like to tell me now?" Hiruma was quickly scribbling away and Sena could practically hear him adding 'before I figure it out for myself' to his statement. 

"No, nothing comes to mind." He replied as he went back into 'cleaning mode'. 'God, this is going to take so much effort.' "Do we have, you know, actual designated spots for all these things and no one ever bothered to put them away properly, or are we just really lacking space?" Sena asked as he picked up a crumpled uniform with the number 80 off of the floor.

"Meh, who cares?" Hiruma shrugged his shoulders and Sena held back a sigh.

"Well you know, maybe if our clubroom left a better impression more people would join?" Hiruma smirked at him as if to say 'the clubroom isn't the reason people don't join, I am' in a very proud manner. "Alright, maybe it wouldn't help." Sena turned and began to pick more stray bits and pieces of uniforms off of the floor.

"But I guess it is a bit cramped in here..." Hiruma began and Sena didn't need to look at him to be able to tell that there was a evil grin on his face. "I'll go and have a chat with the principal about that tomorrow. How are we expected to win if we don't have proper equipment storage facilities?" He cackled a bit and both Sena and Kurita shuddered, hoping that the principal would survive the encounter.

And so Sena spent a good chunk of what was left of the day to clean up the clubhouse, dutifully sticking around even after Hiruma and Kurita had left. (Kurita had wanted to help, but Sena insisted he go home and rest up since he was probably at least a little tired after the game.)

Of course it was far from being tidy, there was too much stuff and too little space, but Hiruma would see that the problem was solved in his own, freakishly effective way.

'Well, I don't think it's going to get any better than this.' He dusted off his pants idily and wondered if there would be a practice tomorrow morning, Hiruma hadn't mentioned that there was one but...

'I'll come early anyways, a secret weapon's always got to be prepared.' 


	15. Chapter 15

FASH: Gah, big project due Tuesday, went in to school on Saturday after eight hours of work to finish it, so this is a little shorter, but not much shorter than usual (because of my slave driver sister), awesome library cliche going on in here too. I'm going to sleep now...

""-speech

''-thoughts

Sena arrived bright and early not entirely too surprised that it appeared that no one else would be training that morning, he was more surprised that Hiruma hadn't ended up dragging his unwilling recounts to practice.

'I suppose he's letting everyone rest up today.' He wondered if it would be strange for him to suit up and practice on the field all by himself. 'Maybe I'll just jog around on block in my track pants until school starts.' He rubbed the back of his neck bashfully, not really wanting to train in his gear since someone might see and think he was a tool for practicing by himself, but he had to train somehow, he didn't want to end up sullying the name of Eyeshield 21 in his first game ever.

'Speaking of Akaba-san, I wonder how everyone over at Bando is doing.' Last time he'd spoken to Juri, about a week ago, she'd been talking about preparing for their first game.

'I should drop by sometime to see how everything's going, I'm sure they won their first game though, Kotarou-san is awesome and Akaba-san wasn't chosen for the Tokyo MVP award last year for nothing.'

He quickly went to his locker and grabbed his gym uniform, speedily changing into it and beginning his trek around the school.

By his fifteenth lap around the school grounds students were beginning to show up, and by his sixteenth lap around he spotted Juumonji, Kuroki and Toganou coming through the main entrance.

"Hey guys!" He ran towards them, waving brightly and all three of them scowled in his direction, he tried not to take it personally.

"So are you guys feeling sore or anything today?" Kuroki's scowl darkened. "What, think we can't handle a little pushing and shoving?" He snorted and rolled his eyes while Juumonji raised his eyebrows.

"Why the hell are you jogging anyways?" "Oh, well, you know as the manager I have to be in shape to, so that I can keep up with you guys and stuff." Juumonji nodded and Toganou made a muffled reply of some sort from behind his manga.

"Anyways, if you felt that yesterday's game was easy please put forth all your effort in the next one, we are going up against Oujou after all, so if you don't try hard enough..." Sena paused, trying to figure out the least insulting way he could put this. "You'll be crushed, horribly."

"Huh?" "Huuh?!" "HUUUUH?"

Sena took a step back from the vocal barrage, hands coming up in a peace keeping gesture. "I'm just telling the truth, the Oujou linemen are really strong, trust me, I've seen them play."

"Keh, as is we'd loose in something so simple." Kuroki muttered, probably under the impression that Sena found most people somewhat larger than he was to be really strong.

"Well if you're that confident be sure not to loose against the Oujou linemen!" He quickly turned and walked into the school, ignoring Kuroki's mad shout of: 'I didn't mean we'd actually _try_ to win.'

He changed back into his school uniform, thankful that he hadn't gotten too sweaty during his jog. He didn't need people throwing strange looks his way because he smelled funny after all.

The first bunch of classes were, for the most part, a drag, Sena followed the lessons along wearily and made a mental note to go to the school's library during lunch break to see if there were any books he could check out for a book report that would be due next month.

'I've never had to balance school and extracurricular activities before.' He twirled his pencil around his fingers absent mindedly, glancing at the clock out of the corner of his eyes. 'But if I let my grades slip mom'll probably tell Takami-niichan about it, and Mamori-neechan will just somehow instinctively know that I'm having problems.' Sena sunk in his seat a little. 'But I really want to focus on American Football too.'

Well if Takami could do it, and if Hiruma could do it, so could he, even if they were both smarter then he was.

When the lunch break finally rolled around Sena slowly made his way towards the school's library, he drifted through the sections, not entirely sure what he was looking for. He spotted a fair sized book entitled: "The Art of War" by Sun Tzu.

'Well, it sounds interesting.' He raised a hand to grab it, but found himself just a little to short to get a grip in the book's spine. He lifted himself up on his toes, but still could only just touch the bottom of the spine.

"Ah, I'll get that for you." A warm voice stated from his side and Sena looked up to see a friendly looking boy with a receding hairline reach for the book, looking at the cover appreciatively.

"This is one of the oldest books of military strategy in the world, it's a very good read." He handed the book to Sena who smiled brightly. "Thank you so much, I'm sure I'll like it." 'Knowing military strategies might come in handy when dealing with Hiruma-san.'

He left the library in high spirits. 'Maybe I could even try to apply some strategies to plays in American Football.' Or he could just tell Hiruma a bunch of random ideas and then _he'd_ go create some awesome, unbeatable strategy.

The last bunch of classes moved by slightly faster then the first set and soon enough school was over and Sena was making his way towards Bando. 'While I'm there, I should probably ask Akaba-san about the code name Eyeshield 21 and see if he had it copyrighted or something.' Akaba was sometimes pretty weird, it could happen. 'And the last thing I need is for him to get mad at 'the fake Eyeshield 21' and want to unmask him.' That would cause far to many problems. 'Oh God, I hope he doesn't have any fans that'll be all up in my face for taking his name.'

Why couldn't Hiruma have chosen a better code name, would it really be that hard to come up with one on his own?

'But I guess he likes bluffing to make the other teams more nervous.' Sena sighed. 'Well, I guess all I can do is hope that no one gets mad at me for using that name.'

He made it to Bando just as the Spiders were finishing up their practice and he waved at Juri as he approached her sport on the sidelines. "Julie-neechan, how did your first game go?"

Juri looked up from her clipboard of stats and smiled at him. "It went pretty well, although some of the guys are getting into tiffs with Kotarou recently." She rubbed her temples. "It sometimes gets pretty annoying, because Kotarou's got his own backup in situations like that, and Akaba is on Kotarou's side, but that usually just make Kotarou even more angry." She sighed and ran a hand through her short hair. "I wish these guys would grow up, anyways, how's being manager of the team at Deimon? I've heard... Things about the quarterback." She held her clipboard up to cover her mouth and whispered. "He didn't force you into it did you?"

Sena shook his head. "No, I wanted the position after watching so many practices and games, American Football is really interesting."

"Aw, just like your big sister." "Yeah... So when's practice ending?" "Pretty soon, why?" "I need to talk to Akaba-san." Juri blinked curiously and then leaned in closely. "Why do you need to talk to him?" "Oh, no reason really..." Juri leaned in closer. "Hmmm? If there's no reason then why bother?" "W-Well..." He couldn't really tell her the exact reason why. "I just want to ask him about, you know, stuff." He tried not to make eye contact and his cheeks were tinted with pink as Juri leaned in even closer.

"Oh, you're blushing, that's so adorable." She began to move away from him and Sena almost sighed in relief when: "Why were you blushing because of Akaba?"

"Wha? I wasn't! It was just because-" "That's okay, I won't tell him your secret." Juri winked at him and Sena couldn't help but feel that she _actually thought _he had been blushing because of Akaba.

'Well, no point in trying to deny it, that'll just make her think I'm trying to cover it up.'

Practice ended and Kotarou strutted up to him, a comb already threading through his hair and ignoring Akaba, who was following behind him with practiced ease. "Hey, how's it going?"

"Oh pretty good, how are you Kotarou-san?" "Keh, I'd be better if some of these guys appreciated kickers more." He threw his departing teammates a look over his shoulder and his combing became a bit more violent.

"Anyways, I've got a quick question for you Akaba-san." Kotarou quickly turned around to face Sena, as if to say why do you need to ask him when you can ask me, and he had the sneaking suspicious that Juri was leaning in behind him to listen to what he was going to say.

'God, this feels awkward.' "Um, would you feel particularly angry if there was another Eyeshield 21?" Akaba rose an eyebrow artfully, but his eyes narrowed slightly. "Why do you ask?" "Oh, no reason, I just wanted to know because I haven't met any other players who associate themselves with a code name." He rubbed the back of his neck nervously and Kotarou stepped forward determinedly and for a fleeting moment Sena was afraid he'd been found out.

"Hey, does your team have a kicker that goes by: 'the 60 yard Magnum'?" "Uh, not that I know of." 'Unless Hiruma-san's hiding something from me.'Which could very well be the case.

Kotarou backed off and sulked while Akaba gave Sena a long, hard stare.

"Well, they've got to change out of their uniforms now, do you want to wait around and we can all hang out?" "Sure, that sounds nice."


	16. Chapter 16

FASH: Sorry this is a bit late, I was as sick as a dog on the weekend and even my sister took pity on me and didn't force me to write as per usual. And now I have this weird taste in my mouth...

""-speech

''-thoughts

It was exactly six o' clock in the morning of April seventeenth when Sena was awoken from a dreamless sleep by the annoying buzzing of his alarm clock.

'Today is the day.' He stared at the ceiling, heart pounding in his chest. It had taken him a small portion of eternity to get to sleep the night before due to excitement, and now that he was awake he felt as though he couldn't move a muscle.

'Maybe the pressure is getting to me? Now that I know for sure that today is going to my first game, against the White Knights, of all teams to go up against.' He slowly pushed himself up into a sitting position, feeling slightly dazed. 'All I need is one touchdown, that's all I want, I don't care how horribly we loose as long as I can get to the end zone at least one time.' He placed his feet on the floor and stood up, walking towards his dresser and staring at his reflection intently.

He wasn't very muscular or tall, indeed he didn't look like the sort who usually played American Football, but he would use that to his advantage today, Oujou didn't have any stats on him, they had no idea how fast he could be.

'Alright Sena, just stay calm, you already know how today's game is going to end.' He leaned in a bit closer to the mirror. 'I will more than likely get tackled a dozen times, and it will probably hurt even though I have all my gear, but all of that doesn't matter, because I am going to score at least one touchdown so that if anyone ever finds out who I am and tries to get me to quit I can tell them that I managed to get through Oujou's defense and prove that this is the sort I am meant to play.'

He took a deep breath and when he exhaled he felt the tension drain away from his body. 'To my team the most important thing is offence, the others can protect my running path with their blocking, and if they can hold out I can use my moves to score those fated six points.'

The next several hours went by in a blur, he remembered leafing through The Art of War, but he couldn't seem to remember anything he'd read anyways.

When the time finally came to meet up with everyone at the school Sena was about ready to burst with impatience and when he finally arrived at the school it seemed like at least half of his teammates were going to burst from nervousness. Only Hiruma, Ishimaru and Juumonji's gang seemed to be completely unaffected by nerves.

'I hope their calmness spreads, or Hiruma-san just intimidates then so much that they're more afraid of losing then Oujou.' A couple of them seemed to be trading horror stories about broken bones caused by Shin last year.

He wandered over to Hiruma's side, the blonde was deeply engrossed in his Devil's Hand Book.

"So, are we all just going to walk to Seisen Field?" He asked curiously, Hiruma snapped the book shut and glanced at his watch with his usual grin in place.

"Oh no, only a select few will be 'walking'." Out from his pocket he pulled several headbands with the word 'tardy' scrawled across it and he tilted his head in the direction of several large carts, one already loaded up with equipment.

'I'm not sure I like where this is headed...'

Twenty minutes later found Sena and the majority of his teammates seated in one of the two carts, with four people who had been late pulling them as the hell hound chased them, pulling the cart of equipment with ease.

"Hurry or he'll eat you all up!" Hiruma said, brandishing a whip who's origin Sena was unsure of.

'God, this is a pretty embarrassing method of travel.' Especially compared to Oujou's modern style. 'Ah well, there's not much I could do about it, even if I tried. I think Hiruma-san finds it amusing.'

They reached the field without much mishaps and Sena couldn't help but be struck by the massive amount of girls gathering on the stands.

'Sakuraba-san's popularity seems to be growing everyday, this is over ten times the girls who came to see him play last year. I hope no one on our team gets intimidated by this massive fan base.' He cast a look over his shoulder where Hiruma was already giving the lecture of a lifetime about the power of offensive based plays, slipping in a couple hints that an ace was going to show up.

'I wonder when I should suit up? Probably just right before the game, in case Takami-niichan is looking out for me.' He glanced over to the other side of the field where the Oujou team was receiving a light meal, probably chock-full of energy giving nutrients.

"Darn, my stomach's grumbling just looking at that." Satake mumbled from beside him and Sena vaguely wondered that, as posing manager, he should do something to rectify the situation.

'Well the game's in two hours, and if he's hungry now it'll just get worse by then.' But he hadn't thought ahead and packed any lunches with him, and it's not like he had the money to buy everyone lunch like Oujou did.

'I suppose I'll just have to ask Hiruma-san.' It could have been worse, if he was actually the manager and had forgotten something Hiruma would probably destroy him, but as a secret weapon posing as the manager, with an important game just two hours away, the most Hiruma could do was intimidate him.

Once again making his way to Hiruma's side, he coughed lightly to announce his presence and tear Hiruma's eyes away from a clipboard he was glaring at.

"What?" "Well, it's simply come to my attention that maybe we should be giving our guys a little boost of energy too." Hiruma rose an eyebrow. "So?" "Well, you don't want them running out of steam in the second half do you? Besides, the ones who were pulling us have already expended a lot of energy, it would be beneficial to our team if we gave them more." "Couldn't you have thought of this _before_ we got here?" Hiruma asked with a roll of his eyes, but he was already digging out one of his multiple cell phones and dialing a number.

'Well, I suppose that solves that. We can have them suited up now, then they can eat, and then they can warm up a bit.' Sena nodded his head to himself. "Good, good." He passed by Juumonji's group and he think he heard something along the lines of: "He's talking to himself again." But he chose to ignore it.

He looked towards the field again and saw Sakuraba being pulled out and surrounded by a trio of reporters. 'Can't they at least leave him alone on a game day? They'll probably end up distracting him and then Takami-niichan's skills as a quarterback won't be able to show through when he passes.' He huffed in a childlike manner, crossing his arms over his chest as he continued on his way, nearing the stands and catching sight of a fairly familiar school uniform.

'The Nagas are here?' He picked up his pace a little and spotted familiar, dark dreads.

Feeling a bit childish and perhaps a bit high on the prospect of finally being able to play, he stuck his hand into the air, waved vigorously and called out. "Aaagon-chan!"

The Nagas as a whole, except Unsui, tensed as Agon slowly turned around, frown clearly visible on his face, shrinking slightly when his eyes landed on Sena, but growing again when his eyes focused one something beyond his shoulder.

"Oi Sena, what are you doing with that trash?"

The brunette slowly turned around and saw Hiruma a few steps behind him, glaring at Agon like no tomorrow.

"Oh you know, just discussing management duties and the like." Sena laughed nervously. "Just felt like saying hi to you and Unsui-san, I thought it would be funny... I better get going now, enjoy the game!" He swiftly turned around walked back towards his team, Hiruma hot on his heels.

"I came over to tell you I've got stuff coming, and what do I hear? 'Aaagon-chan!'." Hiruma mimicked Sena offhandedly, casting a glance back in the direction of the Nagas.

"There are some things that you don't keep from me, mostly because I'll find out sooner or later anyways, and this is one of them." "Really? I suppose I know better now, hehehe." Sena rubbed at the back of his neck nervously.

"Sena!" 'Oh goodness.'

Takami was walking towards them with a worried expression on his face, he'd probably seen Hiruma stalking after him and thought 'bad things' were about to happen.

Hiruma's glare harshened as Takami reached them, thankfully the older boy wasn't easily intimidated.

"So, how are you feeling about today's game?" Takami asked him kindly, even though he was sending a harsh glace in Hiruma'a direction.

"Oh, I think the Devil Bats will do better then last year at least, maybe this year we'll even be able to score a touchdown, if anyone manages to get past Shin-san without having their bones broken." Takami chuckled dryly and reached out a hand to pat Sena's hair.

"Well, if being a manager ever gets to be a bit too much for you to handle, remember that it's not like you _have_ to stay and keep doing it." Another meaningful glance was thrown in Hiruma's direction and the blonde grinned at it.

"Anyways, I suppose I'll let you get on with your work, best of luck to your team." "Best of luck to yours too, Takami-niichan."

Hiruma 'patiently' waited until Takami was back with his teammates before leaning over and whispering: "I think now would be a good time to tell me about anyone else you have a strange connection with due to your mother's meddling." directly in his ear.

"Do I have to?" "Yes." Sena sighed. "Well in that case, I also know a couple people from Bando, including _the real Eyeshield 21._"

Hiruma didn't seem too phased by the information, in fact he looked kind of bored. "Yeah, anyone else worth mentioning?" "Wh-why doesn't that surprise you?" "I trailed you there the other day, now, anyone else worth mentioning?" "N-no." "Good, there had better not be." Hiruma walked past Sena towards a very depressed looking delivery man who flinched a great deal when he saw Hiruma coming towards him.

'He trailed me there and I didn't notice at all? I've got to work on my sixth sense a little more, usually I can sort of tell when I'm being followed.' Sena slowly made his way over to where his teammates were snaking on nutrient rich foods.

"And this one's for you." Hiruma handed him a small bento, leaning in a bit too close for comfort. "Suit up about twenty minutes after you finish, announce that you're going into the stands to take pictures, I've already made some deals with some girls to get pictures of formations from them after the game so you don't have to worry about proving it to anyone. Ten minutes before the game starts I'll 'introduce' you to your teammates." He announced lowly before making his way over to Kurita.

'Hiruma-san's got everything figured out doesn't he?' He felt someone tap his shoulder and he turned around to see Juumonji giving him a strange look.

"What was Hiruma whispering to you about?" "Oh, not much, just this and that, you know, the works." "So he's got dirt on you too huh?" "Dirt on me?" Sena blinked up at him. "Oh no, I'm the manager because I want to be, Hiruma-san didn't force me into it with blackmail."

The look on Juumonji's face said he clearly didn't believe him.

"Does he have dirt on you Juumonj-kun?" Sena asked sweetly, batting his eyelashes up at the blonde who suddenly looked quite uncomfortable, although Sena wasn't sure if it was due to his behavior or his mentioning of blackmail.

"I think it's obvious that I wouldn't be here otherwise." Juumonji crossed his arms and stomped away in a huff.

'I'm sure he'll like it after a couple more games.' Sena munched on the things in his bento thoughtfully. 'American Football is a sport that grows on you after a while.'

Just as Hiruma had instructed, twenty minutes after he'd finished eating he announced that he'd be going to scout out some good vantage points to take pictures from, although he highly doubted many people took note of his leave, and he grabbed his duffle bag of gear and snuck with it into the washroom. Changing into his gear in a bathroom stall was a bit constricting and he wondered if he'd have to change in such small spaces very often.

Afterwards he made his way to a shadowy spot by the bleachers, waiting for his que.

Hiruma seemed to be assuring the team that none of them would have to worry about facing Shin.

"Just who is this secret weapon you've been hiding Hiruma?" Ishimaru asked curiously and the blonde's eyes landed on Sena, finding him in the shadows easy.

"I think it's time to introduce you to our light speed running back: Eyeshield 21." He gestured in Sena's direction and the brunette stepped forward, hoping that all the padding made him look a bit stronger.

"... He's a bit short."


	17. Chapter 17

FASH: Alright, it's finally game time! Man, this fic just seems to be going on forever, I'm probably going to end it after the Death March, but I'll probably throw in some random, non-canon meetings with other characters because it's fun screwing around with the storyline. Anyways, fun stuff going on in this chapter, you'll see.

""-speech

''-thoughts

Sena moodily put his hands on his hips and struck what he thought was an indignant pose, faking a glare in Satake's direction. Hiruma chuckled slyly at the display. "Underestimating this guy is a big mistake, one that we'll force Oujou to make. First impressions mean nothing in this sport."

He turned to Ishimaru, a serious expression suddenly overtaking his face. "As far as they know, you're our only good runner, they've recorded how fast you are and will underestimate us because they have someone even faster." He motioned Sena to come forward, which he did in what he hoped was a dramatic, secret weapon type of way.

"What they don't know, and won't know for a while yet, is we have someone faster still. Faster then Shin."

Silence spread over the team as they turned to stare at Sena in bewilderment.

"Hiruma, I know you like to bluff, but even if Eyeshield 21 is faster then me, there's not way he can beat Shin's record."

Sena frowned at the words. "Allow me to prove myself then." He stated in a voice that seemed a little too deep for his body. "Or do you doubt our team captain's words too much for that?" Ishimaru sweat-dropped and brought up his hands in a pacifying gesture, sending a worried look over in Hiruma's direction, but the blonde seemed all too happy that Sena had decided to defend himself instead of allowing people to rely on his word.

"I didn't mean to offend you, if you can prove that you really are on the same level as Shin, please feel free to do so." Sena nodded confidently. 'I can't expect them to believe in me right off the bat, this game isn't just to prove to myself that I can do this, I have to prove it to my teammates.'

Soon enough it was time for the kickoff to begin, number 22 of the White Knights kicked it deep and Hiruma hardly managed to catch it in time before being tackled to the ground. And then it was time to begin, he stared at the opposing team intently from position beside Ishimaru, behind Hiruma.

"Set. Hut, hut, hut!"

Both he and Ishimaru sprung forward, the older boy moved to grab the ball, but brought his arms up to his chest before taking hold of it, allowing Sena to take hold of it and dash to the left around the linemen as Ishimaru went right.

Various players on Oujou's defense moved forward to stop Ishimaru and he somehow managed to make it past all of them.

Then came Shin.

He moved forward with the speed and precision of a professional player and Ishimaru stumbled a bit at the sight of the linebacker barreling towards him, arms dropping and revealing his lack of possession of the ball.

Shin reacted to this quickly, immediately picking up Sena's movement in his peripheral vision and turning on a dime to begin his chase. In mere seconds he was on Sena's tail and had tackled him to the ground, but Ishimaru's distraction had given Sena a head start of several precious seconds and even though he hadn't made a touchdown in his first play, he had come close.

Really damn close.

Shin pushed himself up from the smaller body and frowned, there was something awfully familiar about that physic, he frowned even more when he saw how close he had cut it.

The girls in the stands seemed startled, some demanded that Sakuraba be put in the game and play defense, the White Knights as a whole seemed to be taking the situation calmly, probably certain that it had only been a fluke that Deimon's offense had gotten so far.

Sena picked himself up off of the ground, wincing slightly. 'Shin-san really gives it his all. Oww.'

The teams were moving forward to re-form their lines and Sena looked at the space between him and the end zone. 'It would be best if I broke through the center to make the touchdown, but no one except Kurita-san tries hard, and he's going up against Otawara-san so I don't know if he'll be able to move forward.'

For the moment he ignored the excited chatter of the people around him and instead stepped towards Juumomji, who was lazily taking his place. "You there, Juumonji-kun, lets break up their defenses." He said in the too deep voice and Juumonji turned to look at him, a sneer on his face.

"Huh?" "I know you can do it if you try." Juumonji scoffed and turned forward. "Of course I can, but I don't feel like it." He muttered and Sena, in a foolishly brilliant move, leaned in closer to him, whispering words meant just for Juumonji in his normal voice.

"Won't you please prove me right this time then, Juumonji-kun?" The blond tensed and turned to give him a look, his lips had just begun to move but before he could say anything Hiruma had already begun.

"Set hut, hut!" Five sets of bodies smashed together in a desperate attempt to overrule the other line.

From his place at the top of the bleachers Agon peered through his binoculars, staring intently at the pipsqueak of a running back who'd practically scored a touchdown on his first run.

'I know that style of running.' He pulled away the binoculars and turned Unsui.

"Hey, does that number 21 seem familiar to you?" "Hmm, not really. Why? Do you think you've seen him playing on another team before? He's not too shabby." "Nah, I was just wondering why a light-weight team like the Devil Bats have a player like that." He turned back to watch the game, ignoring Unsui's widening eyes.

'Did Agon just discreetly compliment the number 21?' "Well, I suppose he does have great legs." "Great legs indeed."

Sena cradled the ball against his chest protectively as he threw himself against Juumonji's back, hoping that maybe a little bit of pushing on his part would help shatter Oujou's iron defense and either his plan was working or Juumonji was really putting his all into it, because they were slowly moving forward.

Toganou and Kuroki shot Juumonji a look and, apparently not wanting to be outdone, put a little more force into their otherwise half-hearted pushing.

With a muffled growl and one final push Juumonji threw back his opposing lineman and Sena tumbled into the small space Juumonji had created in the line, falling awkwardly into the end zone.

For a moment all was silent, and then.

"TOUCHDOWN! YA-HA!" Rang out above the noise of the outraged fangirls and Oujou's angry coach and Sena flinched a little when his teammates ran up to him, excited about their lead.

"Oh, it wasn't all me, the linemen worked really hard to push forward, and everyone did a wonderful job blocking for me." He turned to look at Juumonji who huffed and looked away.

"I just have a lot of anger to vent today, it's not like I care if we win or anything." He muttered, cheeks turning slightly pink.

"All right, huddle up. We're going for the extra point conversion." Hiruma quickly laid out his plan and as their teammates set out to get into position he cheekily asked Sena: "How does it feel to have scored a touchdown against Oujou?"

Sena threw a wistful look in Shin's direction. "Truthfully, I don't really count this as a victory on my part. When you think about it, it was only due to Ishimaru-san attracting everyone's focus in the beginning that got me as far as I did, and in the end it was only due to the linemen giving it their all that I was able to stumble into the end zone. Next time, with Shin-san focused on me during the whole play and without the aid of others I want to see if I can make it, score a touchdown all by myself." He turned to look at Hiruma, who was sporting a rather large grin. "I know that this is a team sport, and right now my attitude may seem a little arrogant, but that's the only way I'll truly be able to think of it as a victory, the only way I can convince myself that the field is where I belong." He threw another look in Shin's direction, not noticing the grin on Hiruma's face become a bit less maniacal.

"What do you think Agon?" Unsui asked carefully, his twin seemed more focused on the game then usual and he had no doubt that it was because of this 'Eyeshield 21'.

"Like I said before, Deimon is a team of light-weights, so even if they've got a nimble new recruit in the end a team is only as good as it's worst player, and this trashy team has got some really bad players." Agon said lazily. "Eyeshield 21 would do much better on a team like ours."

A first year beside Unsui, Agon never bothered to remember his name because he was an annoying twit, laughed. "Is that your expert opinion Agon-chan?" The entire team tensed again, but the first year didn't seem to notice and just dug himself deeper. "Because I think that Eyeshield guy wouldn't be to hard to outrun, I mean, even I-" His sentence was cut off as Agon grabbed him by the hair and dragged the younger boy closer to him, Unsui moving back a little as the first year was pulled to lean over him awkwardly.

"One, you will fucking never call me that again, or I will rip your tongue out." His hand curled in the other boy's hair a bit tighter and he smirked a little at the sound of discomfort that escaped his lips. "And two, 'that Eyeshield guy' could outrun you any day of the week, you wanna know why?" He pulled him even closer. "Because I say so, and I'm always right." He threw the boy back and watched as he scurried away to the other side of the bleachers with a sneer. 'I'd better make sure to tell that brat to never call me that ever again, why the hell did he call me that in the first place anyways?'

"Agon, don't you think that was a bit uncalled for?" Unsui asked, but Agon didn't bother to answer as he brought his binoculars up to his eyes once again. 'Why is Sena playing with _that_ trash anyways? If he wanted to play football he could've come to Shinryuji.' He watched as Deimon faked a kick and Sena ran forward again, but was all to soon blocked by Otawara and pushed out of bounds.

'This damn team doesn't even have anyone to block the opponents for him properly as he goes forward, all they do is slow him down, and they're not strong enough to protect him from Ouoju's defense for much longer then maybe half a second anyways.'

His frown grew as the game went on, seeing Sena getting spear tackled again and again was ticking him off. 'Can't they get someone else to run? Shin's going to tear him apart at this rate.' He huffed angrily, but he couldn't help but feel a bit of pride welling up inside him. 'He's come a long way from the sniveling brat who was afraid of confrontation that he was before, dashing head first into danger without people to block Shin for him.' He glared at Hiruma. 'I swear to God if he breaks anything because of this game that fucker is going down.'

He turned his attention back to Sena in disguise as halftime started. 'Come on, I've seen you run at top speed before, and I've never seen anybody run so fast from the damn hell hound. If you just push yourself a little more you won't have to worry about Shin's Spear Tackle, or any tackle, because you'll be untouchable.'

By halftime Oujou was leading, 35 to 6 and Sena was really beginning to feel the effects of being constantly spear tackled. 'My poor aching body.' He rubbed at his ribs. 'I'm not used to this amount of pain, I'm going to be so sore tomorrow.' He sat down on a bench and stared across the field. 'Shin-san is even more amazing then I thought he was, holding me up instead of tackling me to gain possession of the ball for his first touchdown this game was a really ingenious idea.' He sighed. 'I guess even if I've watched countless games and practiced a lot there's still a lot of thing I need to improve on.'

He grabbed a bottle of water and slowly sipped at it as he watched his teammates rest their fatigued bodies. 'Even if it's really just me against Shin-san, it's nice to know that I'm not completely alone on the field.'

"So, what's with this secret identity thing?" Juumonji asked suddenly from beside him and Sena chocked on his water in shock, coughing into a clenched fist.

Juumonji frowned and awkwardly patted him on the back. "Try not to die." He said lamely and once his coughing fit was over Sena replied. "I'll try, but I make no promises." He held a hand against his ribs again, all that coughing had made his side throb.

"Anyways, in response to your earlier question, I have a couple rather over protective older sibling figures in my life who would do everything in their power to make me quite American Football if they knew I was playing, I suppose they think it's just too dangerous for poor, frail Sena. And Hiruma-san doesn't want other sports teams after my legs." He kicked them out and Juumonji nodded in understanding, eyes wandering over to where Toganou and Kuroki were, propped up against the wall, sweaty and exhausted.

"So, what kind of secret, that you are trying to _keep_ a secret, does Hiruma know?" He asked conversationally and Sena smiled wryly. "I told you before Juumonji-kun, I'm doing this because I want to, not because Hiruma-san is forcing me to." Juumonji snorted. "I still don't believe that. What got a shrimp like you into a sport like this anyways?" "Well..." Sena clasped his hands together. "I suppose it all began with a play date." "A _play date_?" "Mm-hmm." Sena jumped up from the bench. "It's a really long story, maybe I'll tell it to you sometime. But for now, please play as vigorously in the second half as you did in the first Juumonji-kun."

Shin stared hard at the familiar figure that was on the other side of the field, eyes narrowing as he tried to figure out where he recognized the other player from, trying to block out his coach's yelling to Sakuraba about disrespecting the equipment.

"Great job in the first half Shin." Takami said, coming up behind him and following Shin's line of sight.

"That Eyeshield guy is pretty good even though he's so petite, his build kind of reminds me of Sena's." He said conversationally before turning to walk away, not noticing the way Shin's eyes widened in sudden realization.

'That's because it is Sena.'


	18. Chapter 18

FASH: School's going to be over soon for me, so in a week I'll probably be able to start updating daily, or at the very least every two days since I'll be going full time with my job in the summer. And someone was asking if Mamori would end up being manager still, she is, but that's not going to happen for a couple more chapters yet.

""-speech

''-thoughts

The second half was moving by too quickly for Sena's liking and it was starting to seem like no matter how many times he'd seen Shin's Spear Tackle in action or felt the effects he'd never be able to get past him.

'Maybe I was thinking too highly of myself when I told myself I wanted to pass him at least once, one on one.' He rubbed at his sides nervously before stamping away the unwanted thought. He'd been ordered by Hiruma to rest up on the bench during defense and concentrate on offence, but the small amount of rest he was getting didn't seem to be doing all to much, he was beginning to get tired.

'I can't believe that I getting worn out so easily, I don't even want to know what kind of condition I'd be in if I weren't used to running for long periods of time... Ah, time for our offence, here we go...' He moved to get up, but out of the corner of his eye he saw Hiruma walking towards one of the benches, taking off his helmet in a decisive manner.

Maybe he was just being pessimistic, but before Hiruma could reach the bench Sena moved to cut him off. "Hiruma-san, what are you doing?" He asked lowly, not wanting to alert the other players that something might be going wrong.

"They've got a fifty point lead and there's only four minutes and forty five seconds left." Hiruma said in his normal voice, clearly uncaring about how his attitude could affect the team's moral. "Until a few seconds ago we had a millionth of a chance of winning, but now it's completely zero. All that's left is for them to kill time with their huddle."

Sena took in a deep breath. He'd already known that no matter how hard he tried he couldn't beat Oujou, but having Hiruma quit when the outcome had seemed so obvious from the beginning threw the gears of his mind in motion.

'Did Hiruma-san expect us to win? Did he really believe that I could beat Shin-san in my first game?' For some reason the thoughts made him feel awful, like he had let his captain down and disappointed him to a point where he could never forgive himself if he didn't beat Shin at least once during this game.

But for the game to go on, they'd need Hiruma.

His other teammates were looking at them curiously and Kurita looked like he'd come to ask what they were talking about any second now.

"Hiruma-san, just give me a little more time." He asked beseechingly and Hiruma scoffed and began walking away. "What's the point?"

"Just let me have the time I need to beat Shin-san, just stay with us, finish the game even if it means we loose, because by the end of it I promise that I will have broken through Oujou's iron defense and give them a reason for them to be wary of us during the Autumn Tournament."

The promise spilt forth from his lips without thought and there was no way he could take it back or let Hiruma down again, not when the older boy had put so much faith in his abilities.

"So you're really going to do it huh? Beat Shin?" Hiruma asked seriously and Sena nodded, feeling strangely confident.

"Alright." He put the helmet back on his head with a smirk. "Huddle up you lowlifes."

Time was running out and Shin appeared to be getting more worked up then normal. 'Maybe it's because he's getting sick of facing off with me?' He thought in a daze as he pushed himself off of the ground, trying to ignore the intense, almost unfriendly way Shin was staring at him.

"You won't get past me, Sena-kun." He said, adjusting his gloves and Sena's eyes widened, mouth dropping open slightly as he watched Shin walk away.

'He figured out already?!' He pushed himself up off of the ground and scurried over to the circle his teammates were forming. 'I can't believe it took such a short amount of time, the game isn't even over yet.' He bit his lip and did his best to try and concentrate on what Hiruma was saying, but a stray thought made it's way into his mind.

'I hope he doesn't tell Takami-niichan.' He cast a look over his shoulder and sighed in relief when Shin took his normal place instead of making his way to Takami's side.

Now that he didn't have to worry about that for the time being he could completely loose himself in the task ahead of him.

He was going up the left side, casting a glance to his side to see how close behind him Shin was and when he turned to look in front of him, almost at the 30 yard mark, there was a sudden obstruction in his path.

'Sakuraba-san?!' He vainly attempted to stop, but he hadn't noticed Sakuraba quickly enough and he slammed into the other boy, sending both of them sprawling.

Sena laid on the ground, dazed for a moment and trying to clear his mind, which was rather hard with all of the yelling going on.

'Where did Sakuraba-san land?' He slowly pushed himself up and turned his head, apparently Sakuraba had been thrown pretty far from Sena's accidental tackle and already the medic was assessing the situation and the coach was calling for an ambulance.

'Sakuraba-san, why would you just wander onto the field like that?' He spied a star shaped sticker with the logo of American Burger on it and brought a hand to his helmet with a sigh. 'Please don't tell me you were chasing after that sticker...' He pushed himself up off of the ground, ignoring the enraged yells that were directed at him and keeping his feelings of guilt at bay. He could feel awful and apologize later, for now he needed to keep his focus on beating Shin.

He vaguely realized that Kurita was trying to console him, but for some reason he couldn't pull his eyes away from Shin and he could feel the adrenalin pumping through his veins.

"He would have had me that last time anyways. Next time I just need a little more..." He mumbled to himself, but apparently Hiruma's keen looking ears weren't just for show because he chuckled lightly. "Well then, how about this time we go out with a bang? There's hardly any time left." Sena nodded eagerly and his teammates formed into a circle.

"Shin and Otawara have been fiercely guarding the middle, so we've been going to the outside. But this time we'll break through the center." Hiruma thrust his fist forward, as if to demonstrate, and Sena caught sight of Kurita's nervous look and smiled at him reassuringly.

"Go as fast as you can!" Hiruma ordered, pointing right at him. "Just run straight ahead after the snap! We'll force them open with power and speed." Everyone nodded, some looking a little more confident then others as they got into position.

Sena was in the zone, right after Hiruma's shout of "Hut!" he was in action, taking hold of the ball and pushing through the gap in the line that Kurita had made, speeding along the field, oddly aware of the way his heart was hammering in his chest.

'Shin-san is closing in on me.' Somehow he could just tell, perhaps his sixth sense due to his past as a gopher was kicking in, but in any case. 'I'm gonna beat him this time around.' In a last ditch effort he pushed himself off of the ground a bit harder, he felt Shin's fingertips graze his shoulder and then he was free of the other's oppressive presence at his back as he flew down the field at a speed he hardly ever felt the need to run at.

He found himself in the end zone seconds later, looking back at his teammates, he flashed them a smile before allowing himself to fall to the ground.

'I don't think I've ever pushed myself that hard before.'

The majority of his teammates were rushing towards him, in fact only three of them stayed where they were on the field. Toganou and Kuroki were kicking up dirt and Juumonji was sending a look in his direction.

'I bet he's shocked that I could do it, I bet everyone is.' He stood up on unsteady legs. 'At least now I've proven myself to be a fairly good player.'

"Are you going to be okay? Did you want to sit out for the rest of the game?" Kurita asked, eyes filled with concern. "No, I think I can still play, it's not that much longer and-" "Just get on the bench, fucking shrimp, you've been through a lot today and I need you to recover as soon as possible, I don't want you straining your muscles."

Sena opened his mouth to protest weakly, but he snapped it shut when Hiruma began pushing him off of the field.

'I suppose I'll just do as he says then, we can't do much more anyways with the amount of time we've got.' He slid onto the bench and grabbed himself some water, wincing when Oujou was able to score another touchdown right at the end of the game.

'Well, I suppose that 12 to 68 is a huge improvement from last year.' He got up and stretched his arms over his head as he lined up with his teammates to show their respect towards the opposing team.

Shin stared at Sena with a critical eye, he'd never really spoken with the boy, he was just someone who hung around Takami, someone who he was polite to, but wasn't necessarily _friendly_ with. He never really seemed like an athlete, and from what he could gather from the few times Takami had spoken about him, Sena didn't seem like the type who would want to play such a physical sport.

'But he is, and no amount of power can compete with speed I can't even touch. He's more then he lets on.' He threw a look over to Takami and wondered if he should let him in on Sena's little secret. He quickly decided against it though, because the brunette was probably hiding his identity for a good reason, not to mention Takami had a bit of a big brother complex and if he found out that it was Sena on the receiving end of Shin's Spear Tackles throughout the game, well...

Shin might be able to outrun Takami, but the older boy had remarkable accuracy due to his years of training to be quarterback, and Shin didn't want any random, sharp or heavy objects thrown at him by his team captain.

They passed each other on the way back to their own ends of the field and Shin felt the need to say something, something that would allow Sena to know that he recognized his skills, he settled with the declaration. "Oujou's going to the Christmas Bowl." Sena looked up at him, seemingly unfazed with a smile growing on his lips. "Deimon will be sure to make it there too." They each made their way to their own sides of the field, and Shin couldn't help but wonder if he'd finally found the perfect rival.

Sena quickly dashed off to the bathroom and changed into his normal uniform a little slower then before, his sides still hurt from Shin's tackling.

'As soon as I get home I'm gonna take a nice hot bath, that should help...' He rubbed at his sides absent mindedly as he made his way out of the bathroom, just beginning to walk towards his teammates when he felt someone come up behind him and grab on to his arm. He turned quickly and let out a small sigh of relief when he saw it was only Agon.

"We're going to go and have a little talk." Before dragging Sena away from the field, gripping a little harder then necessary.

"Agon-san, where are you taking me?" Sena asked, wincing when Agon pulled at his arm a little too hard. "Ow..." Agon cursed under his breath and turned around, gripping hold of Sena's shirt and pulling it up.

"A-Agon-san!" Sena shrieked, blushing madly as he tried to pull his shirt back down. "What are you doing?!" "Calm down kiddo, I'm just checking to see how much bodily harm you've caused yourself today." Agon said calmly, running his hands up Sena's sides. "You're going to get some bruises, but nothing too bad happened." "Wh-why would anything bad happen? I was just getting jostled by a bunch of girls while I was in the stands taking pictures. It's not like I was getting tackled to the ground or anything." Sena laughed nervously and Agon glared at him.

"If you're going to lie, at least do a good job of it. Not that it matters since I already know what you've been up to today." Sena sobered up immediately. 'Am I really that obvious? How many people are going to figure out who I am every game?'

"Um, would you mind if I asked how you figured it out?" "I'm a genius, it was easy." Agon replied haughty as he finally let go of Sena's shirt.

"Would you mind expanding on that? Because I really want to know what I'm doing that makes people recognize who I am." Sena was rubbing at his sides again, trying to erase the feelings of Agon's hands and replacing them with his own.

"First off why don't you tell me why you're playing with that trash? Seriously, if you wanted to play football you could have just come to Shinryuji, the people you're playing with now are pathetic." Sena frowned. "Agon-san, please refrain from making fun of my teammates." "If they're trash they're trash and I'm not going to sugar coat information just so you feel better. You're too good for this team." Agon flicked his eyes over to the flock of red uniformed people with disdain and Sena sighed.

"Well, you know what they say, practice makes perfect." Agon snorted. "Besides, I wouldn't have scored that first touchdown if it weren't for my teammates." "That was just sheer luck, Oujou still wasn't taking you seriously enough. If you transferred over to Shinryuji you could have teammates that didn't drag you down."

Sena let out a long sigh and wished that Unsui were there, he'd probably help Sena out in this situation. Where was he anyways?

"Agon-san, where's Unsui-san and the rest of your teammates?" "I told them I saw a couple cute girls and I would catch up with them later so they're gone already. So how about you answer my original question of: why are you playing with this trash?"

"Because I wanted to do this on my own." Sena replied confidently. "I didn't want to be on a team where other players would try and shield me and take away my responsibilities. I know that you'd probably let me handle things myself, but Unsui-san would probably get a bit over-protective, and I want a team that trusts me enough to do what I have to, by myself if need be." He took a deep breath. "It's not like I'm trying to act tough or anything, and to be completely honest I suppose you are kind of right, my teammates haven't completely, uh, matured yet and I do sometimes feel like it's just me against the other team's defense, but by the Autumn Tournament I'm sure Hiruma-san will have whipped them into shape." He gave Agon a bright smile and the other boy frowned at the name of the Devil Bats' captain.

"Nice to know you think so highly of me, fucking shrimp."

Sena jerked away at the voice and turned to see Hiruma was standing directly behind him. 'Why doesn't my sixth sense seem to work with Hiruma-san?' But he pushed away that thought when he noticed that there was a glaring match going on just above his head.

Agon VS Hiruma. Sena slowly crept to the side, assuming it would be in his best interest to not be between them when they looked like they were out for each other's blood.

"So fucking dreads, still slacking off?" Agon cocked his head, one eyebrow raising artfully. "Is that supposed to be some sort of insult, or are you just not articulating yourself enough?" Hiruma let out a dry chuckle, whipping out some sort of firearm and resting it against his shoulder casually.

"You can take it however you want fucking dreads, or should I call you Agon-chan?"

Agon growled and turned to glare at Sena, who flinched a bit when the narrowed eyes landed on him. "Don't ever call me that again, it's annoying when other people decide to copy you and do it!"

"Oh, so it's okay when he calls you that?" Hiruma cut in and Agon slowly turned his gaze to the blonde, glare hardening further.

'God, I think Agon-san's gonna kill him. Or at least attempt to.' They'd probably end up killing each other, but not until _after_ causing a lot of injuries and property damage.

"Hiruma-san, I need to talk to you about stuff over with the team, you know, about recruitment." Sena moved over to Hiruma's side and began pushing him along.

"Nice to see you again Agon-san, maybe you could tell me about how you figured out it was me before you leave?"

Agon snorted and pulled off his sunglasses. "I've seen you run at top speed before, I know your style, it's imprinted in my mind." He tapped a finger against his temple. "Genius, remember?"

"Ah, so as long as no one else knows my running style I'll be okay. Thanks Agon-san." Sena waved with one hand, still pushing Hiruma with the other.

Hiruma went a couple more steps before pausing.

"Who else figured it out? I suppose Shin would, he's a freak when it comes to remembering body types. Anyone else?"

"Juumonji-kun, he didn't figure it out though, I just sort of told him." Sena replied bashfully, wondering if he'd be yelled at for not keeping the secret.

"Fuck, I'd better go make sure he doesn't decided to tell anyone else. You can just go home and rest up, I'll see you first thing in the morning. Then we'll talk about recruitment plans." An evil grin spread over Hiruma's lips and Sena wondered if blackmailing people was Hiruma's hobby.

'He certainly seems happy when he does it.'

He slowly made his way home, elated at the thought of having a nice, long bath that would sooth away all his aches and pains.

He opened the front door and was about to call out his usual greeting, when he noticed something strange.

There were two shoes that he didn't recognize sitting on the floor, and if he strained his ears he could hear the faint sounds of conversation and_ giggling_ of all things, coming from the kitchen.

He silently shut the door behind him, slipped off his shoes and crept to the kitchen, face going red when he heard what was being spoken about.

"He was so adorable! I was so proud of my handy-work, he looked just like a girl! Then I took him to the park and Kotarou showed up-"

Sena leapt into the kitchen, much to the surprise of the three females inside.

There was his mother, Juri and Mamori, drinking tea, talking about one of Sena's most humiliating memories and having a grand old time.

"What are you two doing here?"


	19. Chapter 19

FASH: Spoilers if you don't know who Takeru Yamato (Yamato Takeru? I'm not sure which is his surname.) is, I'm not sure if Akaba knew about him, but in this fic he does. Also, I'll try to write the next Deimon game (with Zokugaku) a little better, action isn't really my forte, but I hope you'll bear with me.

""-speech

''-thoughts

Juri giggled at him. "I just thought you might like to come and watch Bando's game, which starts in about." She checked her watch. "An hour."

"And I just wanted to make sure that you're still okay working with Hiruma." Mamori said, sipping at her tea with a grace Sena could never posses. "Juri-chan's been telling about her duties as a manger, are you sure you can handle it all by yourself?" She threw him a concerned look and Sena nodded.

"Don't worry, I can handle it."

"Alright, I should probably get going now, Sena did you want to come to the game?" Juri asked as she rose from her seat and Sena rubbed at his sides again.

He really wanted to have a nice bath, and if he went to the game his bath and guilt tripping over Sakuraba would have to be put on hold. But he still hadn't gotten an answer from Akaba about how he felt about there being an Eyeshield 21 on Deimon's team.

"Sure I'll go." "Awesome." Juri patted him on the back just a little too hard and Sena let out a muffled yelp.

"Sena, are you alright?" His mother questioned, quickly moving from her seat to stand in front of him, Mamori not far behind.

'Oh great, now I've got a bunch of concerned girls hovering around me.'

"I'm fine, it's just that during the game while I was up in the stands taking pictures, well, you know Sakuraba-san has a lot of fan-girls, they got really excited whenever he so much as twitched, so I was sort of run into a lot."

"Aw, did you want me to check you over and make sure you'll be okay? I do it all the time for my team so I know what I'm doing." Juri suggested and Sena quickly shook his head. If she did it all the time she might realize that there was no way Sena got all those bruises just from being jostled around by over excitable girls.

"I already had a friend check it out for me, he says I'll be fine, it's not too big a deal." Sena waved his hands in front of his, try to ward of their concern.

"Well, if you say so..." Juri seemed a bit unsure, but both his mother and Mamori accepted his excuse without any doubts.

"Shouldn't we get going now Julie-neechan? You probably have some stuff to look over before the game, right?" He changed the subject and Juri looked at her watch again.

"Yeah, we had better be off." She looked up and smiled brightly at Mamori and his mother. "It was nice to meet you, and thanks for the tea." She grabbed onto Sena's hand and began leading him away.

"And I'll tell you the rest of that story some other time." She winked slyly and Sena paled while Mamori hid a smile behind her hand and his mother chuckled.

It was as he was being dragged out of the house that a horrifying thought struck him.

Hiruma was still snooping around to get info on him, Sena highly doubted he was satisfied with the amount of information he had, and he might even think that Sena still had some contacts that he hadn't been informed about.

Hiruma digging around in his past meant that there was a possibility that he would find out about _that_ incident, somehow, with his otherworldly powers of his.

"Julie-neechan, you don't have any, um, pictures of that day do you?" He asked nervously, he didn't remember having any pictures taken that day, but it would be just his luck if Juri had snapped a couple shots of him unaware and still had the negatives floating around somewhere.

"Hmm, that's a good question..." Juri said aloud, which was followed by a mutter that sounded suspiciously like: Damn I should have taken pictures.

Sena let out a sigh of relief, at least there was no physical evidence of Juri's dress-up escapade, but there was still word of mouth that he had to make sure Hiruma would never hear.

'Well, what's the chance that he'd listen in to Juri-neechan, Mamori-neechan and my mother talking? I'm sure he has more important things to do. Hopefully.'

They reached the field soon enough that Bando would be playing on soon enough and Sena was quick to seek out Akaba, thankful that he had isolated himself on a bench with his guitar while Kotarou sent glares in his direction every so often.

"Akaba-san, remember that thing I asked you about before?" Akaba glanced up at him casually. "Fuu. You mean about the Eyeshield 21 on Deimon's team?" Sena nodded quickly and Akaba strummed a few chords before answering.

"I suppose I don't mind, as long as he doesn't bring disgrace to the name, it would be hypocritical of me to be angry about there being another Eyeshield 21 after all."

Sena blinked rapidly, processing the information. "Akaba-san, does that mean that besides the one on my team and you, there's another Eyeshield 21?" Akaba slowly nodded and Sena wondered if his brain would break from this information.

"Wh-who? Which school does he go to?" Akaba cocked an eyebrow at him. "He's on the Teikoku Alexanders, the school I'm going to be transferring to."

Sena stood there gaping at him for a moment.

"Transferring? Why?" "My father is moving due to business and I'm going with him." "Does Kotarou-san know? Does anyone know? When are you transferring?"

"Fuu, you're awfully curious today, Sena-kun." Akaba said as he carefully put away his guitar and Sena blushed uncomfortably.

'I hope he doesn't get suspicious because of all my questions.'

"I haven't bothered telling anyone except for Juri yet, Kotarou will probably be glad that I'm leaving." Akaba gave Sena a sad sort of smile. "It's too bad really, our rhythms compliment each other so well on the field. And I'll be leaving in a week, this will be my last game as a member of the Bando Spiders."

Sena shot a look over to Kotarou who was glaring at the majority of his teammates who were warming up on the field while Juri hovered around him, probably trying to get him to warm up with everyone else.

"Kotarou-san is going to miss you, you're one of the few people who support his idea of a kick team." He took a deep breath. "Please play your best in this game."

Akaba smirked. "You didn't even need to ask." He got up and strode over to the field where he began warming up.

'God, why must everything be so complicated?' At least Akaba would accept him as long as he was a good player, but what about the real, _real_ Eyeshield 21?

"Does that mean Hiruma-san copied the name from Akaba-san or from the guy on the Alexanders? What if there are even more Eyeshield 21s out there and they're all great players and they all think that I suck?' That was a disturbing thought, he didn't need a bunch of guys angry at him just because he wasn't very strong.

'Maybe I should ask Hiruma-san about this all later, I'm sure he'll know something about it.' He began making his way to the stands but was stopped when Juri called his name.

"Yes?" "You can sit on the bench with me, I've had a bit more experience with being manager than you, maybe you'll pick something up from watching me as well as the game." She explained to him, a large smile adorning her face.

"Alright, I guess this could be a good learning experience." Sena replied, if he was going to trick people into thinking that he was only the manager for the Devil Bats, then he had better do a good job of pretending to be manager.

"Awesome, I've always wanted to show what I do to someone who wouldn't just go: 'whatever Julie'." She frowned at the last part. "Some people's attitudes make me feel pretty under-appreciated you know?" She began walking towards the bench and Sena followed closely.

"At least now I can talk to someone who understands how important everything I do is, you'll be like my student!" She exclaimed as she sat down, patting the place beside her for Sena to follow suit.

"I suppose that would make you Julie-sensei?" Sena asked jokingly and Juri nodded firmly. "Of course." She handed Sena a video camera carefully. "You just tape the opposing teams' plays, and I'll show you everything I take notes on." "Okay, who's the opposing team today?" "The Karibu Pirates, I've heard they have incredible stamina but I'm not too sure how well they execute their plays." She flipped through a small booklet and 'hmm'ed before scribbling something onto the page and shutting it with a grin.

"I'm confident that we'll win against them." She flashed him the peace sign and Sena nodded.

'Yes, but how will the games after this one go?'

Just as Juri had predicted the Bando Spiders were able to win, 6 to 14, although she had commented that they could do a lot better if everyone was giving it their all.

"Those guys, the ones who Kotarou is always picking a bone with, they've been acting a bit uppity lately, a bit more egocentric then normal. They're hardly trying and I can't help but shake the feeling that they're planning something..." She trailed off and glanced at Sena. "Not that it really matters or anything, as long as everyone else gives it their all we'll be able to go pretty far." She put away her meticulously written notes and held out her hand for the video camera which Sena carefully handed her.

"Did you want me to help you look over their offensive and defensive formations before I go?" Juri shook her head. "Nah, I should be fine doing it myself, besides, your shoulders look a bit stiff and you've been sitting really still, are you still sore from earlier today?" "Yeah, just a bit."

She began putting everything away, glancing at her team every once in a while. "You should go home now and take a nice warm bath. I'll say goodbye to everyone for you." She picked up a tray of water bottles.

"But I haven't even spoken with Kotarou-san at all yet, it would be rude if I just left without saying anything, wouldn't it?" "Don't worry about it, you'll spoil him if you're too nice." Juri replied with a roll of her eyes.

'That's a bit cruel.'

"Besides, you can come and talk to him anytime, it's not like he's going to suddenly disappear on us." She gave him a strained smile and Sena glanced over at Akaba knowingly.

"Alright, I guess I'll be off then. Just remember to tell him I said goodbye, kay?" He sent her a small wave, which she reciprocated happily before taking the tray of water bottles to her teammates.

Sena made his way home as quickly as possible, rushing through the door and bounding up the stairs to the bathroom where he quickly ran water for the bath, stripped of his clothes and slowly sunk in to the encompassing warmth.

'God, I'm going to be really sore tomorrow.'

"Sena, I'll have supper ready in a few minutes, did you want me to just put your portion away for now so that you can stay in the bath longer?" His mother questioned from outside the bathroom door and Sena replied with a muffled 'yes'.

Now he could finally do the things he'd been putting off all day: relax, and worry about if Sakuraba was okay.

'I couldn't have hurt him too much right? He's so much bigger than me, and he still had on his equipment... But then again.' His hands strayed to his sides again. 'Shin-san's tackles always hurt a lot, even though I was wearing all of my protective gear.'

His eyelids were beginning to grow heavy and he sunk a little deeper into the warm water.

'I'll ask Takami-niichan how Sakuraba-san is doing tomorrow, and then I'll be sure to apologize, as team manager, for 'Eyeshield 21's' carelessness...' His eyes slowly closed and his body went completely limp.

Sena finally got his well deserved rest.


	20. Chapter 20

FASH: It's a bit shorter than usual because I wasn't quite sure what to what else to write, but it's still four pages. Sorry if there are any over-looked spelling or grammar errors in this chapter, I wrote the majority of it after working for eight hours, so I might have missed some things when re-reading it due to lethargy.

""-speech

''-thoughts

He awoke in his bed the next morning before his alarm went off, while the sky was still dark.

'Strange, I don't remember going to bed yesterday.' He sat up and stretched his arms over his head, wincing a bit when his muscles throbbed from the action.

'I guess I'll be taking it easy today.' He slipped out of bed, careful not to disturb Pit, who had curled up near his feet, and made his way downstairs where his father was already at the table, flipping through the newspaper. 'I guess dad's going in to work early today.'

"You know you really should try and stay awake when you take baths, I'm getting too old to carry you to bed." His father said with a hint of amusement in his voice, still not bothering to look up from the paper.

"Ah, sorry about that, yesterday was a busy day, I guess it took a lot out of me." Sena replied bashfully and his father 'hmm-ed' is response.

The younger brunette, assuming that their conversation was over, dug through the pantry looking for something suitable to eat for breakfast.

"So, do those bruises from yesterday still hurt?" Sena paused for a moment. "Yeah, just a bit." 'I hope they didn't look too bad.'

"And how did you get them? Surely just being the manager of a club doesn't involve any harmful activities." His father lowered the paper and was looking up at him, eyeglasses slipping down his nose.

"Well actually I was taking pictures in the stands, and there were lots of people around and I was kind of being crushed from all sides. You know Sakuraba-san right? From the American Burger commercials? He's a player on the opposing team so a bunch of fan-girls were there." Sena said as calmly as he could as he put two slices of bread in the toaster.

His dad 'hmm-ed' again before raising the paper up to his face again. "If you say so, but if the crowds get that rowdy then next time you should just take pictures from the sidelines, or wear some padding."

"I'll be sure to keep that in mind."

Forty minutes later found him walking through the main gate of the school, looking around in confusion when he heard sounds similar to a construction site reverberating through the area.

'What is going on?' The closer he got to the club house, the louder the sounds got until finally he stood in front of the club house, blinking at it slowly.

'I guess we're undergoing renovations.' He wasn't entirely too shocked, Hiruma probably wanted to make the room big enough to accommodate all of his future teammates.

'But I can't help but wonder who's paying for it.'

He wandered over to where Hiruma was talking with a rather gruff looking man.

"Hiruma-san, is this one of your plans to help us recruit more people?" The blond turned to him and the gruff man beside him turned to face the clubhouse, holding what Sena assumed were blueprints up so that he could compare.

"If you want to see it like that I won't stop you." He reached a hand into his pant pocket and drew out a small package.

"These are the photos from yesterday, put them in order by the end of school. Take out the ones that are just of Sakuraba, we can use them next year for trading."

"Speaking of Sakuraba-san, you wouldn't happen to know if he was okay, would you?" He asked imploringly, but Hiruma just cocked an eyebrow at him.

"I have no need for useless information." 'Useless? Is it really useless?' "Besides, can't you just ask _Takami-niichan_ about it anyways?" "Well, yeah, but I thought you might know." 'Because of your freaky information network.' "Anyways, did you need me to do anything else?" "Nah, I've got all the other stuff covered, just sort the photos." "Alright, I suppose I'll start them up now."

He turned and walked away, opening the package and leafing through the photos. 'I suppose I'll just do this in the library, I have to return that book today anyways.'

He began shuffling away, casting one last look over his shoulder at the construction job going on behind him.

'I wonder what it'll look like when it's finished?'

After arriving in the library and returning his book he sat himself down at one of the tables and began sorting through the pictures.

First things first, he had to take out all of the ones of Sakuraba, and there were quite a lot of them. He carefully placed each face down in a pile, just in case any fans of his might happen to be roaming around the library this early in the morning and be a little over eager to see photos of him.

He was fairly surprised when he saw a close up photo of Shin, glancing to the side with his ever-serious expression present on his face.

'I suppose that Shin-san's type attracts girls too.' Sena let out a small sigh. 'My type only attracts girls who want to be like my big sister, or dress me up in girl's clothing.'

Kind of depressed by the revelation he unenthusiastically began setting aside photos of plays in action, but he allowed himself to relish in the small feeling of pride he got when he saw a photo of himself running into the end zone.

'But even if I'm cool when I'm on the field, it's not like anyone will know that it's me.'

He sorted out the shots of the formations idly, casting glances at the rather large stack of face down pictures.

'Class starts in about thirty minutes, so even if Takami-niichan didn't have morning practice today he should be up by now, maybe I should call him to see how Sakuraba-san is doing now.' He began rummaging through his bag for his cell phone when he heard someone shuffling up behind him and make an inquisitive sound.

Sena quickly turned around, for a moment afraid that it was Hiruma coming to tell him what a horrible job he was doing. He sighed in relief when he saw it was only the boy who had helped him retrieve his book from the shelf.

"Oh, sorry if I was intruding." The older boy rubbed the back of his neck self consciously. "I just recognized you and wanted to ask if you like The Art of War, and then I saw the pictures and-" "It's okay, I don't mind." Sena smiled wide. "I liked the book, there were some parts I didn't really understand, but I guess I'm just not meant for strategy. I'm Kobayakawa Sena by the way, first year."

The tall boy smiled back shyly. "I'm Yukimitsu Manabu, second year. Are you on a sports team?" He slowly sat down in the chair beside Sena and took a closer look at the photos of the offensive and defensive formations.

"Yeah, I'm the manager of the American Football Club." "American Football? So you work with Hiruma?" Yukimitsu seemed to shudder a bit just saying the name.

"Yes, he's not all to bad when you're, um, 'on his side' I suppose. It's one of those situations where..." Sena dropped his voice to whisper in a faux conspiring fashion. "The closer you are to your enemy, the safer you are." He smiled widely again, although Yukimitsu seemed a bit disturbed at the thought of being close to Hiruma.

"Yukimitsu-san, are you in a sports club?" "Oh no, my mother would never allow me to participate in something like that, I have to keep my grades up." "Oh, that's too bad, and Deimon doesn't let us participate in extra curricular activities in third year, right?" Yukimitsu nodded with a sigh, flipping through the pictures slowly.

"American Football, does it require a lot of strategy? Some of these formations look pretty interesting." "Um-hm, that's Oujou, it's one of the strongest teams I know of." Sena shifted his chair a little closer so that he could point thing out better.

"But they're not strong just because of their players physical talents, mental ability is very important too. Because even if you've got the strongest line." He ran his finger along Oujou's line in the photo the older boy was holding. "It's easy to break through or think of a strategy on how to gain points if all they've got is strength." Sena slumped in his seat.

"Sadly Oujou has all the physical traits needed and good tactics. Sure our team knows how to play the game for the most part, but out only tactician is Hiruma-san." He rested his forehead against the table.

"Sorry if I'm bothering you with my whining, it's just kind of depressing to think about how much better Oujou is compared to us."

"Oh no, this is pretty fascinating." Sena lifted his head a bit and saw that Yukimitsu had began looking through the photos of plays.

"It looks kind of painful though." "Yeah, even with protective equipment it can still hurt." Sena responded dryly and Yikimitsu 'hmm-ed'.

"I should probably get going to class now, maybe I'll see you around?" He asked, sounding perhaps a little hopeful and Sena nodded.

"Sure, if you ever feel like dropping by the American Football club room you can just come on over, after it's finished renovations, I'm not too sure how long it'll take. But Hiruma-san is a bit of a slave driver so it'll probably be done soon." He sat up straight, grinning ear to ear. "And if you ever feel like playing sports behind your mother's back, we could always use some more people on the team." He gave him a thumbs up and Yukimistu chuckled behind one hand, waving with the other.

"Bye Sena-kun." "See you around Yukimitsu-san."

Sena straightened out the piles of pictures and put the ones of Sakuraba back in the package while he stored the other ones in the relative safety of his math binder before checking his watch.

'I guess I'd better be going to class too. I hope Hiruma-san thinks of some more recruitment ideas by the time school's over. Just having a bigger clubhouse isn't going to get people to join.' He got up and slung his bag over his shoulder, frowning a bit as he made his way to class.

'I hope Juumonji-kun kept quiet about my identity.'


	21. Chapter 21

FASH: Chapter twenty one! And Monta's finally going to pop up somewhere in this chapter. On a random side note: I just watched Iron Man today, it was so awesome!

""-speech

''-thoughts

It was two minutes before the beginning of class when Juumonji, Kuroki and Toganou stumbled into their homeroom, all of them looking just a little worse for wear. Sena glanced at them out of the corner of his eye cautiously, he was fairly certain Juumonji wouldn't have told anyone for fear of Hiruma's wrath, but that didn't mean that the possibility he'd told Toganou and Kuroki didn't exist.

They passed him on their way to their seats in the back, Kuroki and Toganou not even bothering to spare a glance in his direction while Juumonji appeared to be sizing him up as he slowly walked by.

'I wonder if he's in denial that Eyeshield 21 is me? Or maybe he just doesn't want to believe that even someone like me has times when they look cool and excel at something, not that more then a handful of people know it was me anyways.'He glanced around the room, noticing subtle glances that girls would throw in Juumonji's direction and sighed.

'Even Juumonji-kun's type attracts more attention then me.' He tapped his fingers against the desk dully. 'Not that I really care, I just wish I was more interesting when I'm not on the field.' He slumped over his desk. 'Akaba-san is interesting and amazing even when he's not playing football, and I'm sure the real Eyeshield 21 is too.' He straightened up a bit when his homeroom teacher entered the class.

'What if every other Eyeshield 21 out there is really cool even when they're not playing?' He flipped through his text book to the page his teacher had written on the board, but he didn't bother listening along to the lesson.

'I've got to work hard so that if I ever am allowed to reveal my identity, although that's not likely considering Mamori-neechan and Takami-niichan, I won't make all the other Eyeshield 21's look bad.' Sena nodded to himself, looked out the window and sighed.

'But I've never really been a cool sort of person, I don't think I could be even if I tried.' He sighed and tried to force himself to pay attention, jotting down notes wearily as he tried to ignore the strange feeling that someone was staring at him intently.

The day passed slowly, Mamori had come over during lunch break to give him a bento, claiming that she'd made too much, and hand him an umbrella, claiming that it would be raining later and she wouldn't be able to walk home with him.

'If my life were a magical girl anime, Mamori-neechan would be the heroine and I would be the best friend who always gets captured by the bad guys, like Naru from Sailor Moon. Not that I watch magical girl anime or anything.'

Once class had finished for the day he carefully retrieved the pictures he'd stored away in his binder.

'The club house is being renovated and Hiruma-san didn't mention anything to me about practice after school, just that I would have to sort the pictures. And if he can't be inside the club house then it'll probably be faster for him to find me then for me to try and find him.' He stood up and began pacing around the room, trying to think of a good way to recruit people.

'Even if I'm just acting as the manager, I have to do a good job of it so that my secret won't be found out, and Julie-neechan gave me so much advice, she'll be crushed if she finds out I don't do a good job.' He leaned against the teacher's desk at the front of the room. 'But I just can't think of anything, and it doesn't really help that Hiruma-san scares most people away.' His eyes began to wander, landing on the television and pausing there when he saw writing scrawled on the side of it.

'Go for it! The Christmas Bowl. Kurita, Hiruma and Musashi? Who's that?' He rubbed at his temples, he'd seen Deimon's game against Oujou last year, but he didn't really remember anyone on the team except for Hiruma.

'I thought that Kurita-san and Hiruma-san were the only regular members on the team, does this mean that there's someone else who'll join the team again.' He traced the name with his finger curiously.

'Miyamoto Musashi was a famous swordsman who defeated Sasaki Kojiro with a bokken he carved from an oar. Hmmm, Kotarou-san's first name is Sasaki, I wonder if these two would end up being rivals on the field.' He chuckled a bit at the thought. 'But now that I think of it, didn't Kotarou-san ask me if I knew about a sixty yard magnum? Maybe this Musashi-san was a kicker?' He squinted at the name, but he couldn't remember seeing a kicker at the Oujou game the previous year.

"Ah, what does it matter anyways? Maybe he transferred to a different school or something, like Akaba-san."

He entertained the notion of asking Hiruma about him for all of five seconds before deciding against it.

"If Hiruma-san wants me to know, I'm sure he'd tell me."

"Tell you what?" "Kya! How long have you been there?" Sena asked as Hiruma entered the classroom, looking far too amused.

"I just got here, but really, you should stop talking out loud, people keep on commenting on it and it's annoying to try and defend your sanity." "Yo-you're defending my sanity? Really?" "Of course." Hiruma snorted. "Who would want to join a club where the manager is insane and babbles to himself all day."

Hiruma began setting up the VCR and Sena stuttered in embarrassment.

"I-I do not babble to myself all day! If I did you'd know about that one time, but since I don't you'll never know what I'm talking about." Sena crossed his arms and nodded to himself.

"Did you sort those pictures yet?" 'Why are you changing the subject?' "Yes, they're on my desk." He waved in it's general direction just as Kurita opened the door.

"Hi Kurita-san." Good afternoon Sena-kun, did you want some pocky?" The older boy asked kindly and Sena nodded, taking two pieces.

'Kurita-san is nice, maybe if I asked him he'd tell me about Musashi-san? Unless Hiruma-san already ordered him to keep quiet.'

"You can go home now fucking shrimp." "Why? Aren't you and Kurita-san staying to do something? Did you have someone tape the game yesterday? Are you going over strategies? I can stay and help out too you know." "That's not necessary, go home and do your homework, unless you want your grades to start slipping?" Hiruma cast him a wry glance and Kurita looked between the two of them worridly. "Imagine how crushed _Takami-niichan_ and _Mamori-neechan_ would be if they found out you were putting club activities before school work."

'He has a point.' "But, if I don't do a good job at pretending to be manager then people might question why you put up with me." "I'm beginning to suspect why I put up with you now, you talk back way too much." Hiruma turned and glared at him and Sena found himself unconsciously shrinking back. "Just go home, fucking shrimp."

"Fine, fine, I'll see you guys tomorrow." He went to his desk and began packing up.

"Sena-kun do you have an umbrella? It looks like it's really going to start pouring soon." Kurita asked and Sena smiled at the concern.

"Don't worry, Mamori-neechan gave me her extra during lunch." Hiruma snorted. "I'll be fine. And the photos are on my desk, have a nice night." He exited the classroom, a little depressed that he apparently wasn't needed.

'If I'm going to be involved in the American Football club I don't just want to play, I want to be useful other ways too. Maybe I'll try and recruit some people, or make up some awesome strategies, I have some notes for my book report on the Art of War, but then again, strategy isn't really my thing.' He opened up the umbrella and walked into the downpour.

'I guess that just leaves recruitment then, but who could I possibly recruit that Hiruma-san hasn't already?'

Because Hiruma had probably attempted to recruit the best and not so best players from the other sports clubs the first time around and Sena highly doubted he'd missed anyone with even a small amount of potential, and how likely was it that Sena would find someone with potential who wasn't already committed to a different sports team?

'It'll be hard finding someone who Hiruma hasn't already bullied or blackmailed into playing, but so far the only one I've managed to convince is Ishimaru-san, what kind of manager can only recruit one player? A bad one who doesn't do their job properly, that why Hiruma-san didn't need me to stay and watch what had been taped.' He sped up his pace a little, eyes narrowing in concentration.

'If I can prove myself to be a better manager, then Hiruma-san and Kurita-san can rely on me when I'm off the field too. At least one more player, I _need_ to recruit at least one more good player.'

He hadn't expected the opportunity to come so quickly.

He was walking to school the next morning, clasping a football that he'd taken home a couple night ago to get the hang of, he still wasn't quite used to it and fumbled with it ever so often.

He was so focused on the football he didn't notice when a baseball landed right beside him.

"Hey you, can you pass the ball over here?" Sena looked up in confusion at the boy standing several meters away from him.

"The ball?" "Yeah, throw it here." "Okay." Sena tossed it, eyes widening a bit when the ball began going off course.

"It's a hanging fly!" And it was headed straight for the front window of an oncoming truck and Sena did not want to be responsible for a broken window.

Thankfully he didn't have to worry about it, because the boy he had attempted to throw the ball to leapt up, catching the ball in a way that was sheerly miraculous.

He landed and looked about ready to yell something, but Sena had other things in mind.

He raced forward, stopping only when he was nearly nose to nose with the other boy, who was a bit too shocked to move back, and looking him straight in the eyes he exclaimed. "Please join the American Football club!"

"American Football? Don't you realize I'm in a baseball uniform? If you have realized that in the first place then you would have you'd know that I meant for you to pass the ball that was beside you!" The boy took a small step back and pointed to the baseball angrily.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I wasn't really paying attention, but-" "But nothing! Isn't this team property anyways? Why do you have it?"

"Oh, well I need to get used to the ball, so I brought it home to practice." "_What?_" "Ah! I'm sorry." Sena took a nervous step back, afraid he had offended the person who he _knew_ would make an _awesome_ receiver.

"You're really devoted aren't you?" "Hmm?" "Even on your way to and from school, that's maximum effort! That must be what makes the difference, I ought to work that hard to." The boy was examining the football closely and Sena rubbed at the back of his head bashfully. "N-no, it's not big deal." "It is too, this ball looks like it'd be hard to hold unless you practice." He pursed his lips together and then proceeded to hold the ball, with one hand.

"That's amazing, you can hold it right in the middle." "Yeah, it's easier to hold on to where the laces are." He said, a bit of pride sneaking into his voice.

"That's awesome, you're awesome!" Sena exclaimed. 'He's the one! He'd be a perfect Wide Receiver!' "Please, please join the American Football club! We could really use talent like yours!"

The boy, who had been basking in the praise mere moments before, suddenly turned serious and Sena wondered if he'd said something wrong.

"Look, baseball is the sport I'm meant to play, I'm sorry but I can't just turn my back on it like that." He crossed his arms and nodded to himself.

"Hey, ball boy! What are you doing?!" "Gotta go! See ya later. Dash Max!" He sped away with a basket of baseballs and Sena watched him go with a wide smile.

'Somehow I'll persuade you to join our team, even if I have to follow you around all day or beg or promise you protect from Hiruma-san. I will make sure that you become our receiver... Damn, I should have asked for his name, that would make following him around easier.'

But he'd find him again, there was sure to be a baseball practice soon, if not today, and finding someone his height with spiky reddish brown hair was sure to be a cinch.

'And then once I've recruited him, I'll be one step closer to being a believable manager. I can hardly wait!'


	22. Chapter 22

FASH: I got my marks for this year and I passed my first year of Animation! Now let's hope that I'll pass the next two years. I wonder how long this'll take to finish? I wanted to update more once I got out of school, but it seems like the most I do is twice a week because work's keeping me busy. I wish I didn't need money...

""-speech

''-thoughts

He made his way to the clubroom in high spirits, not really noticing the changes on the outside of the building until he opened the door and saw the changes done to the inside.

"Wow, if I didn't know any better, I'd think this was a casino." He backpedaled and stared up at the large sign now hanging over the door.

"What the heck?" 'Well, I guess it would attract some people to out club, but I'm not sure if that's the kind of people we want to attract.'

"Ya-ha, how do you like the new gussied up clubhouse?" Hiruma asked from behind him. "'Gussied up' is one way to put it." Kurita murmured back and Sena turned around to face them both. "It's really amazing, how did they do this in just one day? It even seems bigger on the inside then before..." Sena trailed off when he noticed the papers Hiruma and Kurita were carrying.

"Hiruma-san, what are those?" "These? I had some people work on these last night, they're going to help us recruit people." He held one out for Sena to see.

He blinked at the picture of him running curiously before reading the text on the poster. "Eyeshield 21, he scored two touchdowns against the Oujou White Knights. Join us on the battlefield... The hero from Notre Dame has come to play for Deimon..."

"The game against Oujou will be on TV tonight, that with these posters will help us with the recruiting." Hiruma rolled the poster back up and Sena frowned lightly.

"Hiruma-san, I could've helped make the posters you know." He muttered, apparently Hiruma wasn't listening though because he turned to Kurita and started talking to the other boy about needing a full roster of players who practice as part of the team.

'Am I not trustworthy enough to make a couple posters? That's kind of depressing...'

"-at the very least we need a receiver, it's no good if none of us can catch passes." Kurita was saying and Sena perked up a bit. 'When I recruit that baseball guy I'm sure Hiruma-san will see I'm a trustworthy manager!'

"If we're going to train someone, he may as well be tall." Hiruma answered back and Sena hide a smile behind his hand. 'Perfect! He was about my height, so they won't bother with him until they've gone through all the tall guys. That gives me lots of time to persuade him to join!' He began walking away deep in thought, but a harsh grip on his shoulder brought him back to reality.

"Where do you think you're going? Just because you didn't make the damn posters doesn't mean you can't help put them up." Hiruma said as he gave Sena an armful of posters. "Just hand these up throughout the school." Sena nodded with a smile. 'At least I'm trustworthy enough to put the posters up. But...' "Don't we need permission for the posters?" "I say it's all right, so just hang 'em up!" "O-okay." Sena scuffled off towards the school.

'I'm pretty sure there wasn't any room on the bulletin board... So for now I'll just hang these wherever I can and get lost before anyone can get angry.' He dashed around the school, being sure to keep out of sight from the other students who were beginning to fill the hallways, thus putting the posters in places that were perhaps a little secluded, but at least they were up.

He put the final one up in his classroom next to the chalkboard.

'I wonder if it'll actually bring us players, but at least it's better than nothing.' He took a seat and waited for class to begin.

Sena spent the majority of his time in class ignoring Juumonji's stare, for some reason it seemed like Juumonji was still trying to size him up. It reminded Sena of someone trying to gather some information before picking a fight with someone who's capabilities they weren't sure of.

And another fair chunk of his class time was devoted to how he could recruit the baseball boy, if he would be able to.

He hadn't really thought of it before, because he'd been to ecstatic at the thought of finding such a good receiver, but what if he wouldn't be able to convince him to leave that baseball club? And what if was a super genius at everything baseball related?

'I wouldn't want to join a team other than the American Football club, I can't just drag him away from the sport he loves so that the Devil Bats can have a good receiver.' Although he kind of wanted to, but Sena wouldn't make a completely unwilling person play.

'Well, if I ask Hiruma-san and get him to do his thing... That way he wouldn't be completely unwilling right?' He furrowed his eyebrows and shook his head. 'No, _no-no-no_. I can't bring Hiruma-san into this, because blackmail is wrong, even if it is the reason why over half the people on our team are bothering to play and I have to do this myself or it won't count as _me_ recruiting him.'

But still, if he turned out to be some sort of baseball genius then he didn't think he'd be to pry the boy away from his teammates long enough to tell him how amazing American Football was.

When class ended for the day he walked over to the window to look down at the baseball diamond as other students prepared themselves to leave.

'If I don't see anyone flocking to the field in a couple of minutes then I guess I'll just try and figure out when the next time the baseball club practices.'

He was so focused on the field that he almost didn't notice the reflection in the glass of someone walking towards him. Almost.

"Where's Kuroki-kun and Toganou-kun? You guys all seem pretty inseparable."

Juumonji didn't answer so Sena turned around with a sigh. "Now now Juumonji-kun, if you don't talk to me how am I supposed to figure out what's going through your head when you keep staring at me during class?"

"Why don't you ask Hiruma then, he'd probably know." Juumonji replied without batting an eyelash. "I can't go to Hiruma-san for everything you know, besides, I'm sure you would rather I find out from you then from him, aren't I right?" He leant against the glass and crossed his arms.

"If you have something to ask me or something to tell me you can just say it. I'm not going to criticize you." But by the time Sena had finished speaking Juumonji had already turned away, murmuring. "It's nothing." By way of explanation.

'Sheesh, even if you say it's nothing there's obviously something going on. Well, at least it seems like he's not going to try and beat me up for some unfathomable reason, otherwise right now would have been a good opportunity. Maybe he's still under the impression that Hiruma-san is blackmailing me? But I've already told him that's not the case...' He turned his head to look outside and smiled when he saw people in baseball uniforms milling about.

'Maybe you're a baseball genius, but maybe you're not. Maybe baseball is the sport for you, maybe it's not. Maybe I'll be able to recruit you, hopefully I will and I'll never know unless I try.'

He made his way out of the school and towards the baseball diamond, arriving just in time to see the boy he'd met that morning do an amazing catch, followed by a not so amazing throw.

A really, _really_ not so amazing throw. That was about a hair's width away from pegging Sena right in the face.

'Dangerous! I think I'm going to borrow a helmet while I'm here!' He scurried over to the helmets and quickly put one on before sneaking over to the sidelines so that he wouldn't be mistaken as someone who was trying out.

'Well, I suppose that throw means that he's not a baseball genius, and I'm pretty sure that in baseball you need to be good at everything.'

It would certainly make it a lot easier to recruit him if he didn't make first or second string, but what if he was so dedicated to his sport that he wouldn't join a different club even if he didn't make the team?

Satake and Yamaoka were committed to basketball, but then again they had been 'recruited' by Hiruma, so maybe they didn't really count in this instance.

He watched the rest of the scrimmage curiously, the boy he'd met seemed to be good at only catching, almost as if that was the only thing he'd ever bothered practicing. When practice was over he carefully returned the helmet.

'Well, I wonder if knowing he's not a baseball genius would make him easier to recruit?'

"Hey, you're the American football guy right? What are you doing here?" "Well, I came to see you play." 'So that I would know how hard it's going to be to recruit you to the American Football club.'

"Really?" The boy asked happily, before suddenly turning serious. "Hey, this isn't so that you can recruit me, like you were trying to do this morning, is it?"

'Ah, I've been found out.'

"Well, not rea-, well, yeah, yes it is." 'Might as well be honest.'

"Sorry, but I'm not joining, it would be embarrassing." "Wha-" "Don't get me wrong, I don't mean that playing football is embarrassing. I would never diss someone else's sport like that. I just mean it would be embarrassing for me to stop focusing on baseball. I've bet my life on the glove, and someday my catching will make me a hero."

'How will I ever be able to convince someone with so much resolve?'

"Well, if you ever happen to change your mind just drop by our clubhouse, trust me, you can't miss it." Sena said with a nervous laugh as he waved goodbye. 'Hopefully if he ever does come around Hiruma-san's interior decorating doesn't offend him or scare him away.'

He slowly made his way to his clubhouse, opening the door at taking a longer look than he'd been able to that morning.

'Hiruma-san sure has a flashy sense of style.'

"Sena-kun, you're right on time, the game's gonna be on TV soon." Kurita said as he stepped through a door Sena was sure hadn't existed a couple days ago.

"Yeah, let's watch it on the big screen." Hiruma followed after him, pressing a button on a remote that turned on a projector that had been installed in the ceiling and lowered a screen.

'How much did all these renovations cost anyways?' He blinked slowly at the screen which was showing one of Sakuraba's commercials before the game came on.

Sena watched with pursed lips. 'They hardly show any of the important plays, they've just got a whole lot of shots of Sakuraba-san.'

Sena winced a bit when footage of him running into Sakuraba was shown. 'That looks pretty painful, I need to go visit him.'

"We have received this comment about the incident from Eyeshield 21." Sena straightened in his seat. 'Comment?'

"Did you see my 'homicide tackle'? Accident? No way! It was deliberate."

Sena tuned the rest out at that point and rubbed at his temples in exasperation. "Hiruma-san. Did you really find that necessary? You've made me into a villain."

"In football, intimidation wins. You have to show no mercy to your opponent." Hiruma explained, gun in hand.

"But if it's just intimidation, you're intimidating enough for the entire team." The blonde just cackled at that and Sena sighed. 'What if Akaba-san or the real Eyeshield find out about this?'

"Don't worry Sena-kun. Nobody really takes this seriously." Kurita said, patting him on the back in a failed attempt to comfort him.

'Oh God, I'll never live this down if either of them see it. Oh please, please don't watch this channel.'

"That covers the most important part of the show, you can leave now if you want." Hiruma proclaimed with a grin.

'You just wanted me to see that you've made me into to some sort of evil hero didn't you?' Sena crossed his arms and sighed. "You aren't going to discuss any recruitment plans or cool strategies when I leave, are you?"

"Why would you ask something stupid like that?" Hiruma cocked an eyebrow at him.

"We wouldn't keep important information away from you Sena-kun, and we haven't really been thinking up any new plays or anything like that..." Kurita finished, a little uncertainly as he cast a look in Hiruma's direction.

'I suppose even Kurita-san doesn't know what goes through Hiruma-san's head... Wait, if they won't keep any important information away from me, then...'

"Can I ask you a question?" "Sure, ask away."

"Who's Musashi?"


	23. Chapter 23

FASH: Not much happens in this chapter... But it is 5 pages... Hmmm...

""-speech

''-thoughts

For a moment it was as though time had stopped. Neither Hiruma nor Kurita made any movements or spoke up.

'Maybe I shouldn't have asked after all...' Sena nervously twiddled his thumbs and opened his mouth to take back the question when Hiruma leaned forward in his chair.

"That name, you read it on the side of the television in your class right?" "Ye-yes, I've only read it, I've never heard anyone talk about him though." 'Which just makes me more curious.'

Hiruma ran a hand through his hair and Kurita looked around uncomfortably.

"If you don't want to tell me, I can just find out myself." Kurita looked up at him nervously and Hiruma scoffed. "Go ahead and try."

"Oh, I will. I'll see you two tomorrow, good night." Sena strode out of the clubhouse determinedly. 'I may not have an information network like Hiruma-san's, but how hard can it possibly be to find someone other than Kurita-san and Hiruma-san who was willingly on the team last year?'

He made his way home in high spirits, which were shot down with flaming arrows as soon he walked through the doorway.

"Sena," His mother began in that no-nonsense tone she liked to use when scolding him. "I found this crumpled up on your floor while I was cleaning today, do you mind telling me what it is." She held the piece of paper up in front of Sena's face.

"It was a pop quiz in math, which I passed." "You passed, but barely." His mother replied with a frown. "What happened? You were doing so good in math last year, and after Takami-kun and Mamori-chan helped you study and do your homework, why are you letting your grades slip?"

"I've just had a lot on my mind lately." Which was the complete and utter truth, especially on the day of the pop quiz when he'd been sore from the game with Oujou, still trying to digest the idea of there being another Eyeshield 21 _besides_ Akaba, and he vaguely remembered being slightly depressed because he figured 'his type' didn't attract girls.

"It's because you've joined a club isn't it? You never joined any clubs in middle school so you don't know how to balance homework and club activities." "It's just one quiz mom, I'm sure I'll get the hang of studying and doing my club activities." "Oh should hope so, because it just starts as a quiz, then it's a unit test and then before you know it all your grades will be slipping!" She waved the piece of paper around.

"And just think of how sad Takami-kun and Mamori-chan would be if they knew you were letting your grades slip because you were putting club activities before studying." "Okay, I get it. I'll focus on school more, it's just been a bit hectic lately." He assured her, making a mental note to attempt and focus in class more before his mom got the notion that quitting the team would be the best course of action.

"Well, if you say so. But if you're grade are dropping significantly compared to last years' by summer vacation then I don't think it's best to keep doing club activities." Sena nodded in understanding ans she broke out into a smile.

"Alright, now that we've come to an understanding go upstairs and get washed up for supper." She stepped aside and allowed Sena to pass by.

'Mamori-neechan and Takami-niichan must be geniuses to get the marks they do with all their club work.'

Recruiting a good receiver, figuring out who Musashi was and if he still went to Deimon, his other manager duties, training _and_ schoolwork seemed like it was going to be too much to handle.

'But I guess it's my own fault for wanting to act like a believable manager.' He tossed his school bag into his room before making his way to the bathroom to wash his hands.

'My book report on The Art of War is due soon, I suppose I should work on that tonight.' He dried his hands on a towel with a sigh. 'I might as well finish it actually, so that it's out of the way incase anything comes up in the club that I need to deal with. I hope it doesn't take too long.'

He made his way to school a little earlier than he had to the next day, a bad move for him since he was tired from staying up late to finish his book report, but he wanted to do a bit of research in order to find out who Musashi was.

'I can go and see if they have yearbooks in the library, if they don't then I can ask Mamori-neechan if I can look through her's.' He shuffled through the gate and paused for a moment before walking towards the clubhouse.

'I can look for a yearbook later. There's probably no one in the clubhouse since Hiruma-san didn't tell us to get together for anything this morning, maybe I can just go in there and take a little nap before I have to get to class.'

He yawned widely as he opened the door, mouth abruptly shutting when Hiruma glared over in his direction.

"Oh, uh, I'll just be going now." He slammed the door and swiftly made his way towards the school.

'On second thought, maybe it would be best for me to look for the yearbook now instead of later. Time is of the essence and that sort of thing.'

He had almost made it to the school entrance when his phone began to ring. He flipped it open, half expecting it to be Hiruma demanding to come back to the clubhouse for some reason, maybe to inform him of the horrible places he'd hung the posters up the day before.

He sighed in relief when his caller ID flashed 'Takami' and held it to his ear with a smile.

"Good morning Takami-niichan, what's up?" "Oh, I was just wondering if you'd be coming to our game today." "Game?" "We're going up against the Sankaku Punks, I thought maybe Hiruma would want you do go do some scouting."

Sena paused, leaning by the doorway. "I'm not sure, there's this one person I've been trying to recruit onto the team and I was thinking of taking another crack at it after school and Hiruma-san hasn't said anything about scouting anybody, oh, maybe I shouldn't be telling you that though..." Takami chuckled dryly. "Don't worry, I figured Hiruma wouldn't have you scout, he's probably snuck in on a couple practices to get stats anyways." "Well, I wouldn't put it past him." Sena replied with a smile as he watched people begin to stream into the school yard.

"I'll try and make it to the game, I might only be able to catch the second half though, depending on how my recruiting mission goes." "Good luck on your mission then. Shin's been going really all out at practices lately, I think it's influenced by how your team's Eyeshield 21 was able to pass him, Shin seems to think he's found a worthy rival, it'll be good if you get a couple more strong players on your team."

Sena's eyes widened. 'Me, a worthy rival? To Shin-san?'

"I'll talk to you later Sena, bye." "Bye Takami-niichan." He flipped his phone shut and stared at it.

'There's no way, I know I'm fast and everything, but even if I'm sometimes faster then Shin-san he's so much stronger than I am.' But even as he thought that a smile began growing on his face.

'If Shin-san think of me as a rival, surely that means that the other Eyeshield 21s will think I'm worthy of the title. And speaking of the other Eyeshields, Akaba-san will have transferred by now, I wonder how the Spiders will do in their next game... When is their next game anyways? Would it be today too?'

He really needed to mark these sort of things on a calendar so that he wouldn't have to be constantly reminded by other people that there were games he had to go to.

'The Nagas are probably having games now too, but I'm sure Agon-san is killing the competition, hopefully not literally.' He put his phone back in his bag and made his way into the school, not being able to resist eavesdropping whenever he heard someone mention 'Eyeshield 21'.

"He's pretty scary isn't he?" "I think he was totally awesome! I can't believe he'd say that!" "He's like an evil hero."

'The school's already buzzing with talk about Eyeshield, I'm sure Hiruma-san will be pleased.'

He was taking his slippers out of his locker when he heard a familiar voice greet him. "Hey... Manager!" Sena turned around happily. "Hi there!" 'I should ask him his name.'

"I saw it last night on TV. That Eyeshield guy is a real jerk." Sena winced a bit. 'I don't want people to think I'm a jerk. Evil maybe, but not a jerk.' "First he injures a guy. Then he says 'Did you see my homicide tackle?!' There's no excuse for him."

'He's taking it so seriously, I wonder how many other people are angry at me? Excluding Sakuraba-san's fans.'

"It must be hard to have such an awful guy on your team." "Yeah, I suppose so... But if it weren't for Eyeshield we wouldn't have scored those touchdowns against Oujou, that's a really amazing feat you know, even if we lost."

"Really? Let's celebrate then!" Sena gave him a weird look. "Celebrate us losing?" "No, we'll celebrate your team scoring against Oujou and to me making First String!"

"First String? Really?" "No, I actually don't know yet, they're posting up the results of the try outs after school. To tell the truth I think First String is too much to hope for, but I can probably work my way up from Second String. No negative thoughts allowed!" "Alright, I'll be crossing my fingers for you." Sena said with a smile, not quite sure if he was lying or not.

"Come to the baseball team room after school." The boy before dashing off. "Oh, wait!" 'I forgot to ask him his name, I've really got to keep my mind from wandering off topic.' He made his way to his classroom and endured a couple painfully boring lectures and lessons while Juumonji's gaze bore into his back.

'You know, him staring at me is really starting to get a bit annoying. Shouldn't he be taking notes or something?' He tapped his pencil against his desk in a steady rhythm, eyebrows creasing. 'If this continues on for much longer I'm going to have to have a talk with him because there's obviously something going on that he's refusing to accept or something. Maybe he actually likes football and wants to join the team of his own will, so he keeps on staring at me hoping that I'll catch on so he doesn't actually have to ask to join?' He cast a look over his shoulder discreetly, frowning when Juumonji cooly averted his gaze.

'... Not bloody likely.'

When lunchtime rolled around he figured he had mentally prepared himself long enough to willingly confront Juumonji, which meant he might as well be confronting Toganou and Kuroki too, about the irritating staring that was going on, but just as he got up from his desk Mamori appeared in the doorway.

"Hi Sena, can you come with me for a bit?" She asked sweetly and at least half the guys in the classroom either blushed or looked at Sena enviously.

"Sure Mamori-neechan, did you need something?" He asked as he walked out into the hallway with her. 'I guess my confrontation will have to be put on hold.'

"Oh, I just wanted to ask you how everything's going. Your mom called me last night and told me that your grades were slipping." Sena stopped walking and Mamori paused a couple steps ahead of him.

"You mean she actually called you and told you that?" "Only because she knows that I'm concerned about your marks too. Is it because Hiruma's giving you too much work? Because if that's the reason then I can help with it, even if I have to join the team."

"No, no that's quite alright! It's just because I've had a lot on my mind lately." 'If Mamori-neechan joined the team all it would take is one little slip up and then she'd find out and get me to quit the team.'

"You see, I want to recruit this one guy but he wants to join the baseball club and if he makes first string or second string I highly doubt I'll be able to get him to join without Hiruma-san's help, but I don't want Hiruma-san's help because I want to be a proper manager who doesn't need blackmail material to make people join. And then I want to find out who Musashi is because no one will tell-"

"Musashi? You've already seen Musashi around." Mamori said and Sena looked at her with wide eyes.

"But I've never heard anyone say the name Musashi, I just read it." "That's because Musashi isn't his actual name. Hiruma hardly ever refers to people by their actual name as opposed to some nickname he's made up." She crossed her arms and puffed out her cheeks angrily.

"Mamori-neechan, if you don't mind me asking, what his real name then? Where have I seen him?"

"His real name is Takekura Gen, and he was one of the construction workers Hiruma had renovating the clubhouse, I saw him working from my classroom window. He was wearing a bandana instead of a helmet and he smokes like a chimney."

Sena pursed his lips together. 'I think that would be the one Hiruma-san was talking to, but-'

"No way! He's only seventeen?"


	24. Chapter 24

FASH: Woo, faster update than normal cause I had today off.

""-speech

''-thoughts

'Maybe if he shaved and wore some normal clothing he'd look about ten years younger?' Sena mused to himself in class. 'But would that really make much of a difference? It's kind of hard to believe that Mamori-neechan isn't pulling my leg on this.' The final bell rang and in a daze he wandered over to the baseball team room and asked one of second year players' if he knew the name of the person who was great at catching and had spiky reddish brown hair.

"You mean this guy right?" The older boy pointed to a name listed under Third String. "Third String really isn't part of the team, it's more like a group of enthusiasts." He explained dully before walking into the room.

'So his name's Montaro Rai... Third String huh? I wonder if he saw this yet...' He glanced around but the other boy was not in sight.

'Maybe he went looking for me? Even though he's the one who said to meet up here...' He made his way to the clubhouse just to be sure, but somehow he ended up being tied to Cerberos by Hiruma.

"Hiruma-san, I really don't think I like where this is going, can't I just hand out some fliers or something?" 'Maybe then I can search around the school and see if I can find him.'

"No, you'll just hang them up in useless places like you did with the posters. So instead you're going to start practicing." He smiled menacingly and pulled out the key to the lock on the chains that kept Cerberos from moving around too much.

"Do I really have to run like this? Can't I just do my normal jog?" 'Cerberos looks really riled up already, I don't think I could keep up with him for long.'

"I want your legs to know what 4.2 seconds really feels like so that you can access that speed more often. So get to it!" He grinned as he set Cerberos free, Sena trailing behind the dog with a shrill shriek.

"Alright fucking fatty come with me, we've got a receiver to catch."

'Why can't Hiruma-san use normal methods to train?!' Sena tried digging his heels into the ground to slow the beast tied to him down, but it only made him jerk forward and almost fall flat on his face.

'Where is he taking me anyways?' He was being pulled towards the river when suddenly a familiar uniform and head of hair came in sight.

"Ah! Monta-kun! Run away!" He called out, turning around and attempting to run the opposite way in the hope of slowing Cerberos down.

A rather painful game of tug of war began, the rope that Hiruma had tied around his mid section was beginning to dug into his skin when there was a sudden _snap_ and he stumbled face first into the grass.

'I guess the rope couldn't handle that.' Sena rolled onto his back and sat up to survey the situation.

Monta appeared to be okay, if not a bit shaken, and Cerberos seemed to be gorging himself on whatever snacks Monta had in the plastic bag that had been beside him.

"I-is that your dog?" Monta asked as he ran up to Sena, staring at the dog with wide eyes.

"Oh no, that's Hiruma-san's dog. He thought I should work on my speed for my manager duties you see." "Really? You're already pretty fast though." Monta held out a hand to help Sena up and once the other boy was up on his own two feet he began untying the rope around him.

"Do you play in the games too? Since you're so fast?" "Oh, not really." Sena cast a cautious look over at Cerberos. "I'm sorry about all those snacks, but it might be in our best interest to get moving before Cerberos finishes and decides that he's still hungry, if you get my drift." Monta's mouth formed an 'o' and he slowly turned to look at the dog that was ravenously devouring everything he'd bought.

"Alright, let's walk and talk. Silently so as to not be noticed _max_." He whispered as he strode away, Sena right beside him.

"So..." Sena pursed his lips, not really wanting to bring up the topic of being on Third String, thankfully it seemed Monta had things to talk about.

"See this glove?" Monta held out his glove incased hand and Sena nodded curiously. "It was actually used by the pro ball player Honjo. He has a really amazing catch, whenever he makes a catch, the crowd goes nuts! I was at a game of his when I was really young and he threw this up at me to have. I've been working on my catching ever since." Monta sighed solemnly. "But now I guess I'll just have to deal with the facts, I'll never be able to become a pro baseball player." His eyes glimmered with unshed tears and Sena began speaking without even meaning to.

"You looked up to Honjo for his catching, not just because he was a baseball player right? Whenever you saw him catch a ball that no one thought he could, that made your blood thrum with adrenalin, right?" He asked and Monta nodded, their pace beginning to slow down.

"There's someone I know who's good at everything he does, he can play any sport without practicing because he's a genius. All the hardworking people on his team are overlooked due to his presence on the field. People like you and me, we're not geniuses, we're good at a couple of things, things that we've spent a lot of time perfecting and getting just right, things that we don't take for granted. Monta, I've seen you catch, you're amazing and I can tell you've put forth years of effort into honing that skill. Won't you please use that skill to help me and my team? With you I'm sure we can go to the Christmas Bowl." He stopped and clasped Monta's gloved hand.

"It might not be a baseball, but I'm sure that you can catch a ball that no one will think you can and when they see you do it they'll be overwhelmed with amazement and excitement, just like you were when you watched Honjo."

Monta looked at him unsurely. "I-I don't know, that would be running away wouldn't it? Just because I can't play baseball doesn't mean-" "It's not running away! You want to be a catching hero like Honjo right? It's not like you're changing your dream." Sena bit his lip, rubbing his hand at the base of his neck. 'How can I explain this properly?'

"In American Football we need people who are really good at one thing, they don't need to excel at anything else because they have teammates who's strong points are their weaknesses and vice versa. If you joined the Devil Bats it wouldn't matter that you couldn't throw or bat, because everyone will admire you for your catching."

Monta didn't respond but Sena smiled when a thought struck him.

"Come see a game with me, then you'll understand." He took Monta by the hand and began dragging him to the field where he knew Oujou would be playing. By the time they arrived the game was almost over and the score was 7-6 with Oujou in the lead.

'Darn it, if the game is that close then scoring two touchdowns against Oujou won't be as big a deal as we need it to be to recruit.'

"Yikes! This game looks dangerous!" Monta exclaimed and Sena's eyes moved from the score board to see Shin standing over the prone body of someone he'd obviously just tackled.

"Well, that's what all the protective equipment is for." 'Although sometimes not even it can keep you from feeling pain.' "It's more of a contact sport than baseball, but doesn't that just make everything ore fun?"

Monta gave him a uneasy look. "I suppose if you say so." "Just watch the game and notice how everyone relies on each other, it's teamwork at it's finest." He smiled widely and Monta narrowed his eyes at the field before turning to walk away.

"Wait, we just got here!" "I know, just... Let me think about it okay?" "Oh, alright. If you have anymore questions then just seek me out."

He watched him leave with a small smile. 'I'm sure Monta-kun will come around, because for him to have practiced catching for so long, it's something he needs to do.'

And the next morning he was proven right when he walked into the clubroom where Monta stood, back towards him in a Devil Bat uniform.

"Yo!" He greeted cheerfully as he turned around. "This is Honjo's number: eighty!" "Monta, you decided to join!"

'Monta' opened his mouth to protest being called something that was not his actual name, but he was unable to as Sena had glomped onto him and was rambling on about how happy he was.

"Oh, thank you! Thankyoutankyoutankyou! I knew you'd come around! Now let's go show Hiruma-san your awesome catching skills!" He began dragging him out of the clubhouse and towards the field.

"Um, Hiurma-san is the second year who everyone is afraid of, right?" "Yeah, but don't worry, I'm sure he'll like you! As the quarterback he'll be the happiest of all of us to have a great receiver like you, even if he won't show it." "Really? Cause it seems like you'd be the happiest." Monta commented dryly, slowing down as he approached the field and the blonde standing by the sidelines.

Hiruma gave Monta a calculating look before turning to look at Sena.

"Who's this?" "Our new Wide Receiver." "Oh really?" Hiruma's hand twitched and strayed behind him and suddenly, as if he had somehow conjured a ball (which Sena wouldn't put past him), he threw one straight at Monta's face which the other boy caught with one hand.

Monta stared at the ball with wide eyes. "Yikes, give a guy a word of warning next time, will ya?"

Hiruma grinned widely. "So you recruited a receiver huh? Maybe you're not a complete failure as a manager after all."

Sena could _almost_ feel himself swelling up with pride at the _almost_ compliment when:

"But you still fail at most of it, like with the posters, so don't get too full of yourself fucking shrimp."


	25. Chapter 25

FASH: Alright, with this chapter we're finally getting out of volume three and going onto stuff in volume four, so the Zokugaku game is just around the corner! Yay Rui!

""-speech

''-thoughts

Hiruma lifted his face up from his book of threats, amusement evident in his eyes.

"You said his name was Monta right?" "Hm? Yeah." "Well you're wrong." "What?!"

After a quick practice Hiruma had wanted to jot Monta's name, birthday, student ID number and various other things down in their player registry, but while looking for the other information he had desired in his Devil's Notebook under the first year's section he'd found something else out.

"His name is Raimon Taro." "What, you mean I've been calling him by the wrong name this whole time? Why didn't he correct me?" Sena slumped into a chair. "Now I feel like an idiot." "Well it's too late to change it now, so Monta it stays." "But what if he doesn't like being called that?" "Not my problem." Hiruma calmly began scrawling their new Wide Receiver's home room number of the piece of paper he had set in front of him.

"Besides, if he ever asks why you call him that just say that you nick named him after Joe Montana, the fucking monkey probably wouldn't realize that Joe Montana wasn't a receiver."

Sena opened his mouth to respond when Monta and Kurita marched out of the changing room, back in their school uniforms.

"Man, all the equipment takes a while to get off." Monta exclaimed with a wide smile while swinging his arms around before he turned serious and allowed his arms to drop to his sides.

"Why wasn't Eyeshield at practice today? Was he skipping or something?" He questioned with a frown.

"Oh no, he was just feeling a little under the weather yesterday! So I told him it would be okay if he slept it off and didn't come in for morning practice today." Sena explained swiftly, standing up from his chair and walking to Monta's side.

"After all, as manager I would feel horrible if I had forced someone to wear themselves out during practice when they're already not feeling very good." He patted Monta's shoulder. "I'm sure you'll get to meet him soon enough though, and then you'll see he's not that bad of a guy." Monta's frown grew. "I don't know about that, he seems like a pretty rotten guy to me."

Sena laughed nervously and in an attempt to change the subject he decided to bring up the game Oujou had played the prior day.

"Talking about yesterday has reminded me, Hiruma-san Oojou's game yesterday was a pretty close win, I'm not sure if we'll be able to recruit many people based on our two touchdowns now."

Hiruma scowled and cocked an eyebrow at him. "Well fucking shrimp, what do you propose we do about that then?"

"Uh... Well, no one from out school ever bothered coming to watch our games right? So maybe we could have one here?"

"That's a good idea Sena-kun." Kurita said with a smile. "And maybe we can gather up all of the people who were on the team before and practice together, Hiruma-what do you think?" Everyone turned towards the blonde, who had flipped open his laptop and had his cell phone pressed against his ear.

"Alright, it's set! A game this weekend."

"S-so soon!" Monta exclaimed and Sena and Kurita nodded. "It's always like this with him. Who are we going to play against anyways?" Sena asked curiously.

"Zokugaku." Hiurma replied and Sena blanched. "Z-Zokugaku? Why them?" "Because they're a pretty damn good team and they're free." The blonde breezed right past them, Kurita in tow.

"We'll meet up in the weight room after school, I've got some exercises I need you damn pipsqueaks to go through." The clubhouse door shut behind the two second year students and Monta turned to give Sena an inquisitive look.

"What kind of exercises?" "Uh, I'm not really sure. I guess we'll find out after school."

They went to their respective classes and when lunch rolled around Sena wasn't entirely too surprised when Mamori appeared at the door of his classroom and asked if she could talk to him for a minute.

"What did you want to talk about Mamori-neechan?" He watched her curiously as she wrung her hands.

"Well, one of my friends in Hiruma's home room said he was looking maliciously happy today, so I was just wondering if his mood was somehow linked to pushing you around." "Mamori-neechan, Hiruma-san treats me perfectly fine. He's just happy today because he scheduled a game."

Mamori perked up in interest. "Really, what team will yours be playing against?" "Zokugaku." He responded with a frown. 'I suppose they are fairly strong, but we're they disqualified early on because of some on field violence or something?'

"Zokugaku? As in Zoku to Gakuen?" Mamori asked with wide eyes and Sena nodded. "But that entire school is like one giant gang! I'm not going to let people like that get within thirty feet of you!" She exclaimed with a clenched fist, eyes blazing.

"Uh, Mamori-neechan it's not like I'll be on the field or anything." "That doesn't matter! Just being near people like that is a risk, as the person who's known you and protected you against bullies since childhood I can't just let you endanger yourself like that." She took a confident step forward and patted him on the shoulder.

"Hey, don't think you're being a bit prejudice?" A voice drawled lowly and both Sena and Mamori turned to stare at Juumonji who was leaning against the doorframe to the classroom.

"Well, um... It's just..." Mamori flushed uncomfortably, not wanting to be thought of as someone who judged people before getting to know them, before taking a small step away. "I'll talk to you about this later Sena." She turned away and swiftly walked down the hallway.

"Th-thanks Juumonji-kun, I don't think I would have been able to-" "Hey, don't misunderstand, it's not like I did that for your sake or anything. It just pisses me off that she seems think everyone who goes to Zokugaku is in a gang or something. There's nothing wrong with being tough and rough around the edges." He said with a scowl before backing away into the classroom again.

'But even if Mamori-neechan's backed off for now, I know her well enough that her maternal instincts will be back full force soon enough.'

And of course he was right, after school he and Monta had been doing neck exercises in the weight room with Kurita and Hiruma when Mamori stormed in.

"Hiruma!... Kun." She added politely as after thought and Hiruma grinned at her, looking eager to show off all of his pointed teeth.

"Fucking disciplinarian, what do you want?" She crossed her arms and glared at him hatefully. "I have something I need to talk to you about regarding Sena."

From beside him Monta whispered. "Sena, you know that girl? She's really pretty."

"I will not allow him to go anywhere near Zokugaku's football team! I've been reading up on them and they were disqualified from the Spring Tournament because their leader punched a referee. Even if not everyone from Zokugaku is like that, clearly the football team is violent and I'm not going to let him risk his health!"

Hiruma cocked an eyebrow at her before turning to look at the first year students.

"Damn pipsqueaks, go out for a run. And I have some stuff I need you to pick up for me while you're at it." He flicked a list and envelope at them before turning his attention back on Mamori.

"Let's go have a talk, fucking disciplinarian. Maybe we can come to an understanding." He said in a way that positively oozed evil intentions, but as he stood up and motioned Kurita to follow him Mamori went to, giving Sena a reassuring smile before she left.

"Man, to stand up to Hiruma-san like that, she's kind of amazing isn't she?" Monta asked dreamily. "I suppose so. But protecting me from bullies is second nature to her I guess, Hiruma-san is just one of the many people she wants to protect me from."

Monta processed the information. "So you've known her for a long time then?" He asked as they began walking out of the room and Sena nodded. "We're childhood friends."

"I see... Now then, dash max!" "Ah, Monta, wait!" 'Oh, 'Monta' just slipped out again, but he's still not correcting me about it.'

"Hey. Do you think that girl, what's her name?" "Anezaki Mamori." "Do you think Mamori-san would be able to convince Hiruma into keeping you away from the Zokugaku kids?" "I don't know, they're both pretty stubborn when the have their mind set on something. But somehow I just know Hiruma-san is going to use this situation to his advantage. I feel it in my bones." Monta gaped at him. "T-t-take advantage? Of Mamori-san?" "No, of the situation, I don't know how, but I just know that when we get back to the clubhouse something's going to be different." "Ah, thank goodness." Monta sighed in relief before perking up again. "Hey, there's the sports shop! Maximum effort run!" He dashed off and Sena watch him run with a smile. 'It's nice to be running errands with someone else.'

"Hey, wait up Mon-" He paused, steps faltering as a familiar figure ran right past him. 'Shin-san, I wonder why he didn't stop to say hello.' Usually Shin's manners kept him from ignoring people.

"Eyeshield 21." Sena jerked around to face him. "Uh, yes? And you know, when we're not on the field you can just call me Sena." He said lightly and Shin nodded.

"Sena-kun then, I would like to ask if-" Shin's question was cut off when they heard Monta shouting and Sena swiftly turned to see two teens on a motorcycle, one of them holding the envelope Hiruma had given them.

'Oh no, that was money for the equipment.' Sena ran towards the road. 'Hiruma-san will kill me if I just let it get stolen like that, running back or not.'

He saw Shin run up beside him in his peripheral vision.

"There's a traffic jam on this side of the bride." The older boy explained. "With our legs, there's no one we can't catch. You come up on them from the left, we'll attack them from both sides."

'But-but it's a motorcycle!' Sena wanted to say, not really wanting to 'attack' people who were on a vehicle that could easily crush him if they swerved towards him. But he couldn't look bad in front of Shin, not when the older boy apparently thought of him as a rival.

So, with a silent prayer that all would go well, he nodded. "Right." They dashed through the traffic, weaving between cars until they came right up behind the thieves.

"What the-?" One of them cried as they both turned to look at Sena, thus being completely unprepared for when Shin zipped in front of them, one arm stretching out across the mid section of the boy in the front and efficiently separating the bike from the passengers.

The bike crashed into the guard rail with a sickening clash. "The money!" The boy who _had_ been holding the envelope yelled as various bills drifted into the air, dangerously close to the edge of the bridge, thankfully Monta was able to grab onto them before they floated away, which would have sentenced them both to some sort of legal torture by Hiruma's hand.

"We did it!" Sena pumped a fist into the air while Shin confronted the two boy on the ground, smoke from the wreck billowing around him. "You misjudged your opponents." He said wisely and the thieves gaped at him.

After the mayhem that ensued after the crash died down the three students made their way to the sidewalk.

"Thank you so much, Shin-san." Sena exclaimed with a small bow. "So much!" Monta echoed.

Shin was silent for a moment.

"So you've found yourself a receiver?" He asked and Monta and Sena straightened up. "Come to the fall tournament completely prepared, Oujou will be twice as strong in the fall."He threw a determined look over his shoulder. "I'll be waiting for you at the finals." He declared before continuing his jog.

"Cool!" Sena and Monta exclaimed in unison, eyebrows shooting up towards their hairline.

'Shin-san's so amazing. I think that's the most he's ever said to me too.'

They made their way back to the clubhouse, buzzing with excitement induced by the word's of Oujou linebacker.

"I'll be waiting for you at the finals." Monta said deeply, narrowing his eyes and looking over his shoulder.

"No, he sounded cooler than that." "Then you try it!" "Uh..." He took a deep breath and glanced over his shoulder.

"I-I'll be waiting for you at the finals." "Huh, somebody's here."

Sena looked forward and slumped. "Hey, you weren't paying attention." 'And I think I did pretty good too.'

Monta opened the door and peered inside.

"It's Habashira Rui, the football captain and and..." "And?" Sena questioned, trying to catch a glimpse of what was going on inside.

"And Mamori-san is serving him tea!" He said, a hint of jealousy in his voice and Sena sighed in relief.

'At least no one's causing havoc then.' He heard and angry shout come from inside, followed by evil chuckling. 'Spoke too soon, Hiruma-san's done something to piss him off.' He opened the door a little wider.

"I'm gonna kill you!" Rui was saying as his team adviser tried to keep him back.

'Hiruma-san, he's wearing my uniform and making me look like the bad guy again.'

"Oh, you think you're going to win? In that case, want to bet five million yen on it?"

"Yeah, why not?" Rui snapped as the team advisor began pushing him out of the room. "You're just a ragged bunch that lost to Oujou! I'm the strongest linebacker there is!" He exclaimed and Sena felt his eyes widen.

"Shin? He's nothing!" He shrugged off the team advisors grip as he walked out of the clubhouse, brushing past Sena on the way. "Step aside pipsqueak."

'I can't let him get away with saying that!' Sena thought, backtracking quickly until he stood in front of Rui.

"Shin-san is the strongest." "What?" Rui questioned harshly and Sena took a deep breath to try and calm himself, it usually wasn't in his nature to throw himself into these potentially dangerous situations.

"The Devil Bats will meet him at the finals. We won't lose to anyone else."


	26. Chapter 26

FASH: Going up to Anime North tomorrow with my sister to spend loads of money on things I don't really need, but really want. Yay!

""-speech

''-thoughts

An ominous silence followed and Sena fought to keep eye contact with the agitated teen in front of him without completely displaying his fear.

A vein throbbed at Rui's temple and without any hesitation he drew back his hand and threw it forward. Sena made an attempt to dodge it but had underestimated the older boy's reach and was surprised to feel Rui's hand gripping his hair and scalp firmly. "Ow!"

"Did you say something? Wanna say it again?" Rui asked, tugging at Sena's hair harshly and the younger boy winced. 'Habashira-san sure has a long reach.' He saw Mamori moving towards him out of the corner of his eye and in an attempt to keep her from getting involved he gripped Rui's hand and pulled it away from his head, ripping out a couple strands of hair in the process.

"The Devil Bats won't lose to anyone else, Eyeshield 21 will make sure of it." He said as confidently as possible and Rui scoffed. "So you're going to leave winning up to someone else?" "Yes, because I know I can trust him to do it." Rui narrowed his eyes at him, but turned away without any more attempts at violence, the team advisor following closely behind him.

He let out a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding in.

"Sena, why would you go and do something dangerous like that?" Mamori asked as she ran to his side after getting over the shock of seeing Sena stand up to someone like Rui.

"You don't need to worry about it Mamori-neechan, it turned out just fine. But more importantly, what were you doing serving tea to him?" Mamori clasped her hands together proudly. "I'm going to be a manager too, this way I can keep a close eye on you to make sure you're okay."

Sena stared at her for a moment before turning to look at Kurita and Hiruma, who confirmed what she had said with a nod.

"But Mamori-neechan, do you know anything about American Football?" Mamori smiled brightly and nodded. "Well, uh, welcome to the team then." He said as the girl threw her arms around him in a hug, which forced his head to land in a fairly awkward area, not that Mamori seemed to notice.

"Don't worry Sena, with me around you won't have to worry about violent people like Habashira." She said kindly, although there was a slight sharpness to her words and Sena just knew that she was glaring at Hiruma.

"Anyways, I need to go grab a couple things from my locker, I'll be right back."

As soon as she was out of hearing distance Monta was on him, asking strange questions centered around Mamori and blushing madly until Hiruma fired a warning shot into the air.

"Calm the fuck down you damn pipsqueak." He ordered harshly and Monta took a small step away from Sena and nodded.

"Hiruma-san, was it really necessary to recruit Mamori-neechan too?" "It was her idea, and there's no way in hell I'm saying no to free manual labor." He replied, not looking the least bit apologetic even though he knew that this would mean Sena was going to have to work even harder to hide his identity.

"Let's get back to work, you guy still have the exercises I need you to run through. The game's coming up and I don't want to be held responsible if someone's neck snaps." He said casually as he walked forward, watching his fellow teammates scramble around with a smirk.

"But Hiruma-san, how will we be able to explain to Mamori-neechan why I'm practicing too?" Sena asked lowly, a bit skittish when Hiruma passed by him.

"Keh, I'll just say I don't want any weaklings associated with my team."

'Well, I suppose that might work, as long as Mamori-neechan doesn't get worked up over me being thought of as weak.' Although knowing his luck Mamori would probably agree that he was weak...

The remaining days until the game went by as 'peacefully' as one might suspect, Hiruma and Mamori were entangled in a constant argument that neither seemed to be winning, a huge fire was set on school grounds during their destruction of Hiruma's old training 'partner' and somehow, through some brilliant leap of perception, Monta had been able to figure out that he was Eyeshield 21 after seeing him in uniform for an entire five seconds.

'Man, how many people are going to be able to figure it out by the time the Autumn Tournament starts? At this rate my identity won't be a secret for very long.' He sighed tapped his fingers against the wall to the clubroom idly.

The game would start in a few hours, but it was still too early for him to suit up, and Mamori had made him promise to 'lay low' and keep out of sight, lest Rui decided they had some sort of unfinished business together.

So that left him in the clubroom, alone for the time being as everyone else got ready for the game at their own pace.

'Waiting is so boring.' He slumped against the wall, toying with the idea of making a mess and cleaning it up, just to give himself something to do, but he didn't think he would be able to handle the embarrassment if someone walked in while he was in the middle of wreaking chaos. So he waited, as patiently as he could, until he finally heard someone come inside.

He turned around with a grin, expecting Monta or Mamori coming to check up on him. His smile faded when it turned out to be Kuroki and Toganou, Juumonji no where in sight.

"Hey guys, ready for the game today?" He asked lightly, instead of answering his question they strutted towards him, sizing him up.

'Oh for the love of- Don't tell me they figured it out too!'

"Listen up brat." Kuroki said snidely as he loomed over Sena who bristled slightly at being called a 'brat' of all things

"We didn't mess with you before because you're damn strange sometimes and if you ever snap and decided to kill everyone I don't wanna be one of the people on your hit list." He explained, and if Toganou's expression was any indicator he was speaking more for himself then the group.

"But for some reason Juumonji's been acting weird, and it's obviously your fault." Toganou nodded from beside, agreeing with what Kuroki was saying for the first time since they'd entered the clubhouse.

"Hey, why is it my fault? Just because he's been staring at me a lot lately doesn't mean I'm the reason he's acting weird. He's been acting strange since the game with Oujou."

Kuroki ran a hand through his hair stiffly and Toganou cleared his throat before speaking up.

"Yeah, but it is you he keeps staring at, so clearly you're a part of this somehow." "Then why don't you ask him about what's going on?"

Kuroki's frown deepened at the suggestion and he flexed the fingers of his right hand. "If you think we're stupid enough to have not done that already-" "I was just asking, no need to get so worked up about it." Sena said calmly, apparently this was the wrong thing to say to the already aggravated brunette because he had only finished his sentence by the time Kuroki was making a swing for his face.

Sena ducked and took several quick crossover steps to the side, extremely thankful that Kuroki didn't have an extensive reach like Rui.

Kuroki and Toganou were both scrutinizing him now and Kuroki experimentally dashed forward, fists flying.

Sena easily dodged as he stepped back, eyebrows creasing together. 'Are they putting the pieces of the puzzle together?' He risked a glance at Toganou who was watching calmly. 'Well, it doesn't seem like they've figured it out, either that or Toganou-kun's being pretty calm about it.'

Sena ceased his backtrack a spilt second after Kuroki stopped advancing and Kuroki turned to give Toganou a superior smirk, which the other boy rolled his eyes at.

"See, I told you so!" Kuroki grinned and slung an arm around Sena's shoulders, much to the younger boy's confusion.

"I still think you're insane for thinking that." Toganou responded dryly. "Even if Sena can dodge your punches that doesn't mean he was in some sort of gang."

'A gang, me?' Sena purseds his lips together, eyebrows raising. 'How would anyone come to that conclusion?'

"Hey, it makes sense. He's not intimidated by us or that gun totting maniac, clearly because he's used to hanging around people like that, and he's light on his feet, like he's been in a couple brawls and really wants to avoid being hit. I bet 'Monji realized it too and that's why he's acting all weird." Kuroki glanced at Sena. "It's kind of hard to picture him in a fist fight."

Toganou rubbed at his temples and muttered under his breath.

It was at that moment that Juumonji finally walked in, arms laden with three uniforms.

"What the hell guys, did you have to make me carry everything?" He asked gruffly, attempting to close the door behind him with his foot. When the door finally shut he looked up from the floor and surveyed the occupants of the room, coking one eyebrow when he saw Kuroki's arm still wrapped around Sena's shoulder.

"What's going on?" "Nothing! Nothing at all! Kuroki-kun was just explaining this strange theory of his to me." Sena ducked away from Kuroki's arm and walked towards Juumonji.

"Anyways, I don't think you've got everything there, do you? I'll go grab you guy's helmets and cleats, just go and get changed, I'll be back in a flash." He exited the room and Kuroki smirked again.

"See? You don't get that fast just by standing around and getting beat up on."

Had Toganou been less concerned about the condition of the manga he was currently holding he would have lightly wacked Kuroki over the head with it, instead he just squinted at the other boy through his glasses.

"Maybe he became that fast so that he couldn't get caught and get 'beat up on'."

Juumonji dropped the uniforms on the ground and crossed his arms moodily.

"What are you guys talking about anyways? Mind cluing me in?"


	27. Chapter 27

FASH: I saw Eyeshield cosplayers this year! There was a Hiruma, Musashi, Kurita and Sena in their uniform, and the Hiruma was carrying around some huge model gun. 'Twas awesome. Anyways, originally I had wanted to start the game in this chapter, but that didn't happen, oh well.

""-speech

''-thoughts

'Kuroki-kun must be out of his mind to think something like that, honestly...' Sena huffed as he grabbed onto the box he'd placed the trio's cleats and helmets in, looking around carefully to make sure Mamori didn't catch him out of hiding.

A couple people from Zokugaku were already milling around, others soon to follow and Mamori, being the mother hen that she was, would have a cow if she knew Sena was doing errands smack dab in front of them.

'I suppose it's my own fault for her being so overprotective, I'll just have to prove to her that I'm self sufficient and can be independent so that she doesn't have to worry all the time.' He shifted the box in his arms uncomfortably. 'Maybe I should have taken two trips, I can barely see ahead of me with this stuff in the way.'

As if to confirm his thoughts he stumbled over a patch of uneven ground and was sent flying towards the pavement, but he never made it.

The box he'd been carrying crashed to the ground first and the yell that had been building up in his throat was cut off before it even started as the air rushed out of his lungs soundlessly when his chest came in contact with a slim but muscular arm that wrapped around him and brought him back up to his feet.

"Oya oya. If it isn't Sena-kun, I haven't seen you in a while." The voice of the person behind whispered creepily and the arm around him tightened uncomfortably before letting go.

Sena stumbled away before turning around, shoulders tense.

"M-Mamoru-kun?"

The other boy put his hands on his hips and frowned, but his eyes flashed as if he were greatly amused. "What? Are you not going to thank me for keeping you from crashing face first into the pavement?" He 'tsk'ed lightly and cocked his head as he read the letters taped onto Sena's shirt. "You really need to work on your manners Sena-kun, especially if you're the manager of the team."

Sena blushed hotly. 'I suppose that was a bit rude of me.' "Sorry, I _am_ very thankful that you helped me! I was just a little... Shocked it was you." He gave a small bow and studied his past tormentor.

Mamoru had grown a little taller, a bit more muscular too, his light shoulder length hair was held in a low ponytail and he was wearing a Zokugaku football uniform.

'Mamoru-kun plays football? If he does, then does that mean-' "Mamoru-kun, do Daiba-kun and the others play American Football too?" 'I don't think I can handle a whole pack of bullies on an opposing team.'

The fair haired boy suppressed a chuckle from behind his hand. "Goodness no, I don't think they'd ever put any type of effort into a team sport, though you might see Daiba-kun running around for a completely different reason." He strode towards Sena and casually wrapped an arm around his shoulder, something he did a lot back in middle school, smiling in a sleazy sort of way.

Sena tensed slightly, but he was fairly certain Mamoru wasn't going to drag him away and beat him up, especially since the other boy was aware he was the manager of Deimon's football team, and he'd have to meet up with his teammates soon anyways.

"Do you want to hear something funny, Sena-kun?" He asked lowly. "Um, I suppose so?"

"On the first day of classes Daiba-kun decided he wanted another gopher like you, you know how lazy he gets." Mamoru's smile widened and Sena miraculously was able to hold back his comment: 'I was your gopher too, so does that make you lazy as well?'

"Anyways, so instead of sitting back and carefully choosing which person would be easier to manipulate, he just goes up to the first person he sees walking alone and demands that they 'get him a can of juice or else'. Wanna know who that person was?"

Sena nodded, more to keep Mamoru in good spirits then out of actual curiosity. It wouldn't be very smart of him to get on Mamoru's bad side when the other boy had a grip on him.

"It was Habashira Rui. Now Daiba-kun is Rui-san's gopher! I suppose that means karma does exist?" He asked a little too brightly, his hand tightening a bit on Sena's shoulder and the brunette blinked at him in confusion as Mamoru finally moved his arm away.

"If you believe in karma now, does that mean you aren't bullying anyone anymore?" He asked cautiously, fighting the urge to take a step back. 'Even if he's still close, I can probably outrun him if this meeting turns sour.'

Mamoru smirked, eyes flashing again and Sena thought he could feel the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.

"I like to think of myself as a bit too mature to do that now. Besides, no one else is as fun to torment as you. Too bad you turned out to have that crazy, violent, over protective friend. Ruined my fun." His smirk widened as he turned and began to walk away.

"You were always so adorable when you panicked."

'God, Mamoru-kun is a sadist or something.' Sena nervously turned around and began picking up the cleats and helmets. 'At least I don't have to go to school with him anymore, but today I do have to be on the field, facing off against him.'

He held the box of equipment closely and cursed himself for feeling afraid. 'He's just an old bully, he wouldn't try anything after that one time with Agon-san, I don't have to be afraid of him. Even if he really seemed to enjoy picking on me." He shuddered a little. 'Creepy.'

By the time he arrived back at the clubhouse a fair amount of the team was there, most of them in uniform and Hiruma _appeared _to be giving Juumonji, Kuroki and Toganou a pep talk of sorts.

"And remember Huh Huh Brothers." "We're not brothers!" "Zokugaku's line isn't against using underhanded tactics to win." Hiruma continued calmly, as if he hadn't been interrupted. "The fucking fatty is too much of a softy to not fight fair, so if they start fighting dirty, it's your responsibility to just fight dirty back." "Hiruma-kun, don't tell them stuff like that!" Mamori shouted crossly, fisted hands resting against her hips.

Hiruma just ignored her.

"This isn't an official game and there isn't a real ref., so if they try to cheat, cheat back, it's only natural to retaliate like that. Just don't do it during a tournament." Hiruma rocked back on his heels, calmly blowing a bubble with his sugar free gum while Mamori steamed behind him.

"Um, I brought your stuff." Sena said meekly to the 'Huh Huh Brothers' as he walked towards them but his eyes were glued on Mamori who seemed to be emitting a very, very dark aura.

Though at the sound of Sena's voice she went back to normal.

"What took you so long, it would have been faster if I went and got it." Juumonji easily lifted the box out of Sena's hands and set it on a table.

"Yeah, I suppose I got a bit sidetracked with something..." He trailed off. "Hiruma-san, should I go find Eyeshield 21 and bring him back here to change now?"

"Yeah, I suppose it's about time for that. Everyone who's already geared up, get your sorry selves onto the field! anyone who isn't changed yet should do so _now_." "Alright, let's go max!"

Sena watched as Monta energetically ran out of the room, followed by several much less enthusiastic people as several more ducked into the changing room until only he and Mamori were left in the main part of the clubhouse.

"Sena, before you go searching for Eyeshield-kun." Mamoru gently rested a hand on his shoulder. "Edogawa Mamoru, he's one of the boys who used to bully you right?"

Sena swallowed nervously. "Y-yeah he was, why?" "I was looking at the team roster for the Chameleons and I saw his name. I want you to be careful and either stay in here during the game, or stay right by my side on the sidelines where I can see you, I don't want you running into him."

'It's a little too late for that.' "Thank you Mamori-neechan, I think I'll stay in here, maybe catch up on some homework or go over some old videos." "Alright, did you want me to help you search for Eyeshield-kun?" She leaned in closer, smiling kindly at him as she always did.

"No that's alright Mamori-neechan, I've got a good idea of where he is already, you should probably get going. It may not seem like it, but Hiurma-san, and the entire team for that matter, really do need your help, you're a very essential part of this team now." He moved his own hand to cover hers. "Let's both do our best as members of this rag-tag team, Mamori-neechan."

Her eyes widened slightly and misted over as if she were going to cry. "Sena... You're growing up so fast." She ruffled his hair fondly with her other hand. "If you can put up with Hiruma-kun, then so can I!" She moved towards the door. "Don't worry Sena, even though I'm sort of taking over your post today, next time there's a game we can work together to ensure that the opposing team's strategies are analyzed and defended against." She walked out of the door confidently, Sena following behind her and moving to the back of the building.

'Now I just have to wait until everyone is gone.' He slumped against the back wall. 'Mamori-neechan said I was growing up, I wonder if that means that I'll be able to tell her about Eyeshield someday and not worry about her freaking out too much. I hope she wouldn't be mad that I hid it from her...'

He sat in silence for a good ten minutes before he figured that everyone else must have gotten changed by now and be making their way to the field, so he got up, walked around the building and strode in the door.

Only to find it wasn't quite as empty as he thought it would be.

"Kuroki certainly came up with a weird theory." Juumonji said casually as his eyes flicked over to Sena. "I suppose it's sort of my fault though, but I've been wanting to ask you something so..."

Sena moved to sit beside him. "Whatever it is you need to ask, I'm ready."

The blonde looked at him seriously, eyebrows being drawn together. "You're scrawny."

Sena slumped a little. "That wasn't a question, that's a statement." Juumonji frowned. "I know, I'll get to that part in a minute. The thing is, well, you look like someone could break you in half without much effort, someone like that Shin guy." Juumonji crossed his arms and turned away, eyes glued to the ceiling. "Sure you were wearing the protective equipment, but you knew beforehand that Shin had broken the bones of a couple other players the year before, yet you just threw yourself into the game, going full throttle regardless of the pain you knew you'd go through."

Juumonji's eyes slowly moved to make contact with Sena's.

"What makes you so determined, how can you be so... Brave?"

"I'm really not that brave Juumonji-kun, I just want to do my best no matter what." "But it seems like you're not afraid of anyone, Hiruma even gives me the creeps but you don't seem to be freaked out by him."

Sena tapped his index finger against his lip thoughtfully. "I guess it's because I know someone who sometimes seems like a real devil's incarnate, even Hiruma-san seems safer then him. The first time I met him he scared me way more than my bullies ever did, we get along now, but I think that's mostly because I'm fast, so I'm not useless in sports. Or something like that."

"Hmm. But you're not afraid of him anymore?" "No, but, as embarrassed as I am to say this, I'm afraid I seem to be still scared of one of my old bullies." He rubbed his arms nervously. "I suppose it's just been integrated into me, after so many years I instinctively fear him even though I've been around scarier people."

"Is it that Edogawa guy that the manager warned you about?" "Yeah, Mamoru-kun, I ran into him on the way back, that's why I was late bringing the stuff." Juumonji tensed a bit. "Did he-" "Oh, he didn't do anything too bad. With Mamoru-kun, unlike Daiba-kun, it was usually what he said and how he acted that scared me as opposed to what he did." 'Although sometimes his actions can be pretty freaky too.'

Juumonji relaxed his muscles, but his frown deepened. "If you're so scared of him, why are you on first name basis with him?" Sena rubbed at his chin thoughtfully. "I can't remember, I think Mamoru-kun wanted me to call him by his first name, although I can't imagine why."

Juumonji snorted. "He sounds like a pervert." "Juumonji-kun, please don't say that right before I have to go and face him on the field, I'll be even more worried about him then Habashira-san."

"Well, neither of them are as fast as you, you shouldn't be intimidated by people who can't catch you." "I can't help it, Mamoru-kun is pretty quick and Habashira-san has that long reach-" "But you're still faster then them." Juumonji stood up and put his helmet on awkwardly, still not quite used to the straps.

"You've been up against tougher opponents, so you don't have to worry about them on the field and you don't have to worry about that Edogawa guy when you're not playing either. I'll keep an eye on you and tell Kuroki that he's from a rival gang and wants revenge against you or something. He'd be all over that guy like white on rice."

Sena smiled brightly. "Thanks Juumonji-kun." "Hey, don't get all sentimental on me. I just don't think it's very cool for you to be intimidated by people that could be utterly destroyed by some of the other people you know and aren't scared of. Besides, if you were really as frail as you looked it would be kind of embarrassing for me, since I sort of..."

Juumonji trailed off for a moment and then Sena thought he heard something along the lines of: 'I thought you were cool'.

His smile widened. "Care to repeat that Juumonji-kun, I couldn't hear you very well."

Juumonji flushed. "Sh-shut up and get changed, the game's starting soon." He stormed out of the clubhouse and Sena let out a small chuckle.

'Juumonji-kun is a lot nicer then he seems. I guess I can't allow myself to be intimidated in this game, I wouldn't want him to feel embarrassed for thinking that I'm cool.'


	28. Chapter 28

FASH: Alright, it's finally game time, man I suck at writing the games. Anyways, to Angel of the Fallen Stars; I'm weak willed to nagging, so at the very end I put something special in for you. To Tuli-Susi; Sena's friends from other teams don't know he has friends from other teams, yet. (Insert evil laughter here.) And to all my other lovely reviewers, thanks for the feedback!

""-speech

''-thoughts

The kickoff had begun and Rui rushed forward, his foot slamming into the ball which sailed lowly for several meters before hitting the ground with an off kilter spin and sailing off in another direction.

Deimon players surged forward, but with the ball bouncing and changing directions every couple of meters no one was able to grasp it.

Until Monta tried his hand at it of course.

The crowd of Deimon students who had come to watch the game cheered wildly and a large group of the Zokugaku players were stampeding towards him as he tossed the ball over to Sena with a cry of: "Eyeshield 21!"

Only to have the ball go in the complete opposite direction he intended it to.

'Oh yeah, I forgot how bad Monta was at throwing.' Sena thought, wincing a bit when Hiruma stomped towards the receiver. "What the hell was that?!" He asked, kicking Monta non-too gently before storming off.

"Hey, are you alright?" Sena asked as he moved to Monta's side. "Gah, humiliated on my first play, embarrassing to the max." He covered his head with his hands. "Hey, you just started, don't worry." Sena awkwardly crouched down to his level.

"That was a great catch!" Mamori called from the sidelines, causing Monta to instantly perk up.

"Don't worry, you can do it!"

Monta blushed and stood up with a sudden burst of energy. "All right!" Sena looked on wordlessly, eyebrows raising ever so slightly.

'Well, that certainly made his attitude change fast.'

They started out on the sixty yard line, Zokugaku's players set up to defend against a run, clearly under the impression that if they had any good receivers they would have used them in the Oujou game.

Well, they were in for a surprise.

Hiruma started off with a quick pass that zoomed right between Kurita and Juumonji and past a fair amount of Zokugaku players who seemed to shocked that the Devil Bats were passing to intercept. Rui attempted to at least knock it out of the air, but even with his long arms the sheer speed of the ball added to the fraction of a second delay he'd experienced since he was under the impression _there was no way they'd pass _caused him to miss.

None of the players situated behind Rui tried to get it either, obviously thinking that no one on Deimon's team could catch such a fast ball anyways.

Thus another surprise was in store for them.

Monta rushed past them, leaping into the air and catching the ball with little difficulty. Landing lowly on the ground and springing up to dash closer to the end zone, managing to gain thirty five yards before he was finally tacked.

The rest of the way was a piece of cake as Rui seemed determined to defend against a run, his teammates easily waiting in position, tensing a bit as Eyeshield ran forward to grab the ball, only to have Hiruma swing his arm back at the lest second and throw it into the end zone, just a couple feet away from Monta's current position.

He caught it with practiced ease and cradled it to his chest as he rolled several times before somehow maneuvering into a kneeling position, the ball in one hand and the other pointing to the sky in some sort of heroic gesture.

"Woo! Touchdown!" "Go Monta!" "Mon Mon!" "Monkey!"

Monta felt his eyebrow twitch. "The name's Raimon!" He shouted to the uncaring crowd before making his way back to his teammates where he was briefly swung around by an enthusiastic Kurita before being roughly kicked in the behind by Hiruma.

"Wha-what the hell?" "I think that as long as he doesn't say anything while he kicks you, it's his way of praising you." Sena informed sagely. "That's a pretty rough was of saying 'good job'." "True, but did you really expect him to say something like that?" "Nah, I just wish he wouldn't kick me."

They set up for the one point conversion kick which Hiruma kicked the hell out of, only to have it fly off the field and peg a poor, unsuspecting observer in the head.

Next was the Chameleons turn on offence and despite Sena's best attempts to intercept the super long pass Zokugaku's quarterback had thrown the Zokugaku receiver had been several steps ahead of him and caught it right as he entered the end zone.

What made matters worse was the fact that Zokugaku actually had a real kicker and was able to get the extra point.

'That's okay though, our counter attack will start soon enough. They might be aware of Monta's ability now, but if we all stay in tip top shape there's no was we can loose.' Sena thought as he moved into position, pressing his lips together in a firm line when Mamoru and Rui wandered into his vision. 'There's no way I'll let these guys intimidate me, I'd be a disgrace to the real Eyeshield if I let a couple bullies get the better of me.'

Deimon was on offence, at the beginning of the play Monta had run forward, but his route was blocked by Zokugaku's defense so Sena ran towards Hiruma, arms outstretched as if to take the ball but just before he reached it he pulled his arms up to his chest like he had taken it. Hiruma spun to the other side to hand the ball off to Ishimaru, who easily broke right through the center without any problems, managing to go ten yards before Rui was able to take him down.

"You did it! Ten yards in one go!" Kurita exclaimed happily as Ishimaru picked himself up off of the ground. "Yeah, they didn't know I was there at first because Hiruma was in front of me." He explained, but of course Zokugaku had their own explanation.

"Damn, we didn't notice him." "It's cause he has no presence."

Ishimaru visibly wilted as he overheard their conversation and Sena couldn't help but feel sorry for him. "Don't worry about it Ishimaru-san, they're just trying to cover up their own carelessness." He said in his 'Eyeshield' voice, but Ishimaru didn't seem to cheer up from his reassurance.

"Heh, it doesn't matter if their covering up their own carelessness, they'll never notice the Shadowless God of Death until it's too late." Hiruma said with an evil cackle before shooting everyone a glare. "Now get back into position!"

Hiruma was able to fake the handoff for two more touchdowns before Zokugaku began their 'no mercy' strategy.

First it was the linemen, whose efforts mostly went in vain. Their attacks weren't anything Juumonji, Kuroki and Toganou couldn't handle and while Kurita didn't fight back, punching him in the gut where he had loads of natural padding did a whole lot of nothing.

Then Rui sprung into action, running towards Monta and knocking him down despite him not having the ball.

And then came Mamoru, the tight end rushing towards Sena in hopes of putting him out of commission.

Sena had other ideas.

He ran towards Hiruma, who skillfully avoided being sacked and tossed him the ball once the brunette got close enough.

Sena turned on a dime once the ball was in his hands, easily side stepping Mamoru and running alone the edge of the field before turning along a 45 degree angle to get close to the center where it wouldn't be as easy to push him out of the sidelines from his blind spot. He approached one Zokugaku player, faking to the left and then spinning to the right to get past him, and the rest that were scattered around on his way to the end zone were easily dodged

"Touchdown! Ya-ha!"

Zokugaku's game-play started going downhill from there as Rui became more concerned about Eyeshield's running and ordered more people to cover him which left Monta free to catch any and all passes sent his way and whenever a couple players strayed off to try and block the receiver Sena was able to break free and gain several yards before being surrounded and tackled. And although Deimon's line, the majority of it still amateurs compared to Zokugaku's, sometimes gave up a couple yards Deimon's offence was still going strong enough to make up for it. Not to mention that the line's 'lack of ability' helped aid in a screen pass which created a two on one block in Deimon's favor, allowing Sena to run right through into the end zone without hardly any hindrances.

Although Zokugaku was a team known for changing their strategy to adapt to their opponents plays, clearly they'd never gone up against someone like Hiruma who's very nature dictated that he stay several steps ahead of everyone.

In the end it was an overwhelming victory for Deimon, especially compared to the slim margin they had beat the Cupids by at the beginning of the season.

Fifty-two to twenty-one.

"That... Was pretty amazing." Monta managed to say between deep breaths, holding a hand against his chest. "This is way more running then I'm used to." He turned to look at Sena, who seemed completely fine. "Man, have you even..." Another deep breath. "Broken into a sweat under there?"

Sena shrugged his shoulders. "Not really, I jog a lot so I'm used to it by now. Besides, when it comes to scoring touchdowns I only did half the work. You did incredible for your first game."

Monta gave him a thumbs up and a rouge smile, still intent of catching his breath.

By that time Hiruma had wandered over to Rui, clearly intent on getting the Zokugaku players to pay up the five million yen they had riding on the game so Sena, fairly certain that the resulting confrontation would draw Mamori and the majority of the other players over to their side of the field, decided that now would be a good time to change back into his normal clothes.

He made his way towards the clubhouse, careful to avoid the scattered crowds of Zokugaku and Deimon students.

"Oi, Sena-kun."

Sena immediately froze before whipping around to face Shin, lunging forward and pressing one hand against the older boy's mouth as he swivelled around to make sure no one had heard.

"Shin-san! Don't call me that!" He said before retracting his hand. The older boy's eyebrows furrowed slightly. "But I thought you wanted me to call you Sena-ku-" "Shh! Shhhhh!" Sena waved his arms around rapidly. "Only when I'm not in uniform! When I'm like this you can call me Eyeshield. My identity is a secret, remember?" "Ah." "Well, as long as you'll remember in the future." Sena stepped away and sighed, looking down at his feet awkwardly.

"Did you come to watch the game?" "Yes. Deimon did well against Zokugaku, your linemen are in need of more training though." Shin said, glancing in the direction of the field as he nodded to himself.

"So, that means I did well, right?" Sena folded his hands together and the older boy rose an eyebrow. "Are you in need of reassurance even after you managed several touchdowns for you team?" "Uh, well-" Sena flushed slightly. "It's just, I really respect you Shin-san, you're really amazing."

Shin's eyebrows furrowed together again. "So you would like me to praise your skills in order for you to gain more confidence in them?" "Well, you don't really-" "You did well." Sena froze. "R-really?" Shin nodded before moving to jog past Sena.

"I promise I won't let anyone beat us until we meet Oujou in the finals Shin-san! We have to meet in the finals!" Sena called and Shin turned to look at him, nodding seriously.

"It's a promise."


	29. Chapter 29

FASH: Hey, it's chapter 29 and Riku gets mentioned, yay. Oh, and I don't know a whole lot about the on goings of the tournament for the Bando Spiders after Akaba left, but this makes it more fun.

""-speech

''-thoughts

'Well.' Sena thought as he changed out of his uniform. 'I think it's impossible for this day to get any better.' A couple words from his personal idol and Sena was all set for a stay up on cloud nine, oblivious to anything that could ruin his mood unless it smacked him right in the face.

Or walked straight into it, as the case turned out to be since when he exited the clubroom after changing he bumped into someone he really would have liked to never see again.

Thankfully before Mamoru could even open his mouth to say something Hiruma was looming behind him, a small black book in hand.

"Unless you leave with your team right now I'll personally tell everyone on your team about the incident in grade four during Golden Week when-" Mamoru's expression scrunched up before he quickly turned around and began leaving.

"Well, that was effective. You even have blackmail material on people from other schools?"

"Of course, all relevant information on you has been complied into this." Hiruma said, brushing past Sena to go into the clubhouse.

"Really? The Devil's Handbook doesn't look very big though."

Hiruma paused his trek into the clubhouse and looked over his shoulder. "This isn't the general Devil's Handbook." He lifted it up for closer inspection and Sena realized that his name had been scrawled across the front.

"I- I have my very own Devil's Handbook?! Dedicated completely to me?!" "Of course. I have my general Devil's Handbook which has a little info on everyone in the school, but once someone joins the club I gather up all the information I can find on them and whatever I deem worthy enough to remember goes in here. Including blackmail material on old bullies should the need for it arise."

The blonde grinned sadistically. "The fucking monkey's is about half done, same with those Huh Huh Brothers."

Sena wearily lifted a hand up to his forehead. "So basically you're saying you've got my life story all organized in that book you're holding right now?" "All the relevant information, yes."

Sena frowned and crossed his arms. "But there's no way you could have gotten a hold of information on my childhood, Mamori-neechan wouldn't tell you anything and I seriously doubt you asked my parents."

He shot Hiruma a suspicious look, the possibility was there.

"You didn't ask my parents, did you?"

The older boy frowned. "What, do you not trust my information network?"

"Not to this extent."

Hiruma held the book between his fingers loosely, leafing through the first few pages.

"Kaitani Riku was a transfer student, he was only at your elementary school for a few weeks, but during that time he taught you how to run." He shut the book, gazing at Sena haughtily. "And clearly you haven't been keeping in touch."

Sena stared with a slack jaw as Hiruma calmly strode to the back corner of the clubhouse.

"H-How do you know that? You knowing about Riku I can understand, but no one, to my knowledge at least, knew that he was helping me practice running!" 'No one who would tell you, in any case.'

Hiruma picked up a stack of papers, leafing through them and nodding to himself before turning around.

"At least tell me how you know I haven't talked to him in a long time. You're not... Tracking my mail or bugging my phone or anything like that are you?" He gave the older boy another suspicious look as Hiruma walked past, shutting the clubhouse door behind him.

"Ha, it wasn't nearly as complicated as you seem to think it was." Hiruma said, sounding oddly proud of himself as he walked back towards the field, Sena right beside him.

"Back when I asked you if you had any other connections I should know about before I found out about them, you didn't mention anything about him. So it's just common sense that you don't know what he's been up too lately due to lack of contact." Hiruma divided the pile of papers and gave half to Sena.

"Well, what has Riku been up to lately then?" Sena asked, accepting the papers without even bothering to look at them.

"He's on the Seibu Wild Gunmen now and apparently he's notorious for being late to games." "Really? Wow." Sena stared ahead of himself blankly. "I suppose he'd be a running back too then eh?" "Bingo." "Thought so... Hey Hiruma-san, how come no one else has come back to the clubhouse to change yet?" Hiruma snorted. "Look at the field you idiot." "Wha- oh."

The Devil Bats were surrounded by enthusiastic Deimon students all of them cheering and talking and laughing at once.

Sena wondered how he hadn't noticed all the noise earlier.

'I suppose Hiruma-san was the only one able to force himself away from this crowd. Although he probably didn't even need to use force, he could just walk forward and they'd part like the Red Sea around him.'

"Hey Hiruma-san, you said you were making personal Devil's Handbooks for Juumonji, Kuroki and Toganou. But they're only on the team because you blackmailed them into it with the information from your general Devil's Handbook, so do you really need one for them?"

"They'll join willingly soon enough." Hiruma said confidently, as if he predicted the future often. "Besides, my original blackmail wasn't too embarrassing. Glasses has a bunch of girly romance manga hidden under his bed which he reads delicately, short temper once stole his older brother's-" "Hiruma-san, you don't need to tell me!" "Fine, destroy my fun."

Sena sighed and finally looked at the papers he was holding. "Monday after school, 3:30 p.m... We're having a recruitment meeting?" "Yeah, so go over there and hand out those flyers fucking secretary!" With a swift push on his back Sena was sent stumbling forward into the crowd of students, handing out flyers to whoever seemed the most pumped up, smiling politely the entire time.

This hadn't been exactly how he'd planned to unwind after the game, but at least it didn't take too long. By the time he'd started handing the flyers out students were beginning to leave, already finished with their congratulating.

'Well, it certainly seems like we left a good impression. I wonder how many people will show up to the meeting tomorrow...' He took a closer look at the flyer. 'And I wonder where exactly we'll be getting this 'delicious tea and cake' from.'

"Sena, did you do homework during the game?" Mamori asked as she stepped up beside him and Sena nodded. "Yeah I started on my math homework." "Wonderful. Did you want me to help hand out some of these flyers for you?"

The rest of the day past rather slowly, he hung around with Monta for a bit and pondered the idea of telling people that they were getting a Devil's Handbook made specifically for them, but ultimately decided against it. There would simply be too much commotion if they knew, especially if Mamori knew, Hiruma hadn't mentioned anything about her's, but Sena could easy imagine the bloodshed that would happen if Mamori knew that Hiruma knew everything about her.

After hanging around with Monta he headed home, had an early supper with his parents and got straight to work on his math homework, although ever so often he'd get distracted by Pit mewling for attention by his legs and he'd end up scratching her behind the ears and stroking her fur for a good ten minutes before getting back to work. Once he finished he was ready to kick back and play some video games before bed when his cell phone began to ring.

"Hello?" "Hey Sena, it's me." "Julie-neechan, I haven't talked to you for a while, what's up?" Sena laid back against his bed, lazily petting Pit as she curled up beside him.

"I was just wondering if you've got any plans for tomorrow." "Nope, you've got a game?" "Yeah." Juri sounded oddly nervous and Sena frowned. "Don't worry Julie-neechan, even if Akaba-san isn't there I'm sure you'll do fine with everyone else."

There was a long pause.

"Julie-neechan?" "... Remember when I said that some of the guys were acting a bit funny?" "Yeah, what about them?" "They all transferred too, to the same school as Akaba-kun."

Sena shot up, Pit glaring up at him angrily as his movements made the bed shift. "What?! All of them?" "Yeah. We've still got enough people to play, but everyone's been down lately, especially Koratou, although he won't admit it anytime soon."

"But you won your last game without all those guys right?" "We just lucked out on that one. Several of the players on the other team weren't feeling too good at the beginning of the game, I think they ate some bad shellfish the night before or something, by the end of the first half the coach took them out and sent in some badly trained subs. We won't get lucky like that this time." Juri sighed.

"Which team are you going to play?" "The Seibu Wild Gunmen."

Sena just about stopped breathing, questions already springing forth in his brain.

'Does this mean I'll meet Riku again? Did Hiruma-san know that Bando was going to play Seibu? Can Hiruma-san foretell the future or something?' Sena shuddered a bit at the last one. 'That's not even funny. He already knows enough without ESP, any more blackmail material and he can just take over the world at any moment.'

"So Sena, can you come?" "Oh, definitely. I wouldn't miss it for the world." "Thanks, I really appreciate it and I'm sure Kotarou will too." She sighed again. "Well, the game starts at noon tomorrow, we'll be warming up at the usual field before then though."

"Alright, I'll see you tomorrow." "Bye."

Sena turned off his phone and set it on his bedside table, sinking back onto his bed bonelessly.

'I might meet Riku again tomorrow. I wonder if he'll remember me?'


	30. Chapter 30

FASH: Dedicated to my sister who thought up the Riku vs Takami part. And we see Kakei for a very brief moment in this chapter, because he makes my day brighter and his birthday's coming up.

""-speech

''-thoughts

Sena arrived at the field a solid forty minutes before the game was to take place, first he looked for a glimpse of white hair on Seibu's side which he couldn't seem to find. 'Well, Hiruma-san did say that Riku was in the habit of being late. I wonder if he was late all the time?' He tired to think back to when Riku had gone to school with him, but he couldn't remember if the light haired boy had ever been late to class.

He peered closer at the Wild Gunmen curiously, eyes locking on a player who was apparently lounging in a rocking chair, a hat covering his face with a very stern looking player standing by his side.

'I wonder what kind of team the Wild Gunmen are? Maybe I should have brought a camera or something to record the game. Damn.'

Then his gaze swept over to the Spiders, they hardly had enough members to play and most of them seemed like they didn't want to 'fight a losing battle'.

Kotarou seemed like he was going to start spitting at him any second now out of anger. 'Well, at least he's acting normal.'

"Hey Sena, thanks for showing up." Juri said as she came to stand beside him. "Most of the guys are feeling really half hearted about this game." She sighed. "I know that Kotarou will go all out, but everyone else... They just don't even think we have a chance of winning and are giving up before they even try. God, I wish Akaba-kun hadn't transferred, at least with him around they'd have more confidence."

Sena vainly tried to think of something he could say in response to that, but was saved from replying by an unexpected source.

"Sena, what are you doing here?"

The brunette turned, a smile breaking out on his face. "Takami-niichan."

Takami was holding a note book, two pens were tucked behind his right ear and he had a small carry on, Sena assumed it held some sort of camera, hanging off of his shoulder.

"Came to do some scouting?" "Yes, whoever wins this match is going to go up against the Dokubari Scorpions and then whoever wins that match will be going up against the White Knights. I would have brought someone else with me to take notes, but no one else was available to come, other commitments or something like that."

Juri looked between the two of them curiously. "Sena, how do you know that quarterback for the White Knights?"

Sena's smiled widened. "Play dates, Julie-neechan."

Recognition dawned on both their faces before they turned to look at each other.

"Do you suppose if my mother is friends with Sena's mother and Sena's mother is friends with your mother, our mothers are friends with each other?" Takami pondered aloud and Juri shrugged.

"Well, I can't remember my mom mentioning anybody with the surname Takami. Does Sawai sound familiar to you?" "Not really..."

Sena let out a small laugh. "It would be funny if all out mother's were friends with Kongo-san too." He said to himself, but Juri and Takami's heads snapped around to look at him.

"Kongo?" Juri began slowly.

"As in Kongo Agon and Unsui?" Takami finished and Sena nodded.

"Was your mother _insane_?! Wasn't the whole idea behind your play dates to keep you safe and away from people like Kongo Agon?!" Juri nearly screamed and a fair amount of people turned to look at her curiously.

"Now now, I think you're overreacting, right Takami-niichan?"

But Takami did answer, tapping at his chin thoughtfully and 'hmm'ing to himself. "I suppose Hiruma knows about all these connection you have with certain teams then?" "Yeah, why?"

Slim arms wrapped around him and Sena was suddenly being held tightly with his back against Juri's chest. "Don't worry Sena, Julie-neechan will protect you from the evil that is Konga Agon and will make sure Hiruma-kun doesn't exploit you or your connections in any way!"

'Exploit?' "Uh, I don't think you have to worry about any of that, Agon-san isn't mean to me," 'Anymore.' "He's actually pretty nice to me and Mamori-neechan joined the team as manager so she could keep and eye out for me." "Aw, but I want to be the protective older sister figure too."

"Julie! Stop socializing and get over here!" Kotarou called from the field and Juri turned around, Sena still in her arms.

"Fine fine, let's go Sena." "Huh? O-okay." Sena turned in Juri arms. "I'll be back Takami-niichan. I'll sit beside you and help you record the game, okay?" "Sounds good." Takami replied as he watched Sena being practically carried away with a slight smirk. 'Even on friendly terms with Konga Agon? Sena sure has changed for the better, it's good to know he's made friends other then Mamori-chan, his teammates and myself.'

Kotarou looked even more irritated up close, thankfully he didn't direct any of his frustration towards Sena, whom he greeted as politely as usual before turning to Juri angrily.

"These guys aren't even warming up properly anymore! Go do... Something to make them try harder." He complained, fiddling with his comb. "We've got to show those bastards that left that a kick team can advance in a tournament just fine."

Juri sighed and adjusted her elbow length gloves. "I'll see what I can do, okay? Just don't loose your temper, you know how shaken up everyone is after all those guys transferred." Kotarou scoffed. "We didn't need them anyways." Juri frowned, but turned around to speak to the others.

Sena and Kotarou stood together in silence, Kotarou still fiddling with his comb and Sena trying to think of something to say that wouldn't make the older boy angry with him.

"So, does Akaba-san know that everyone else transferred to?"

Kotarou turned to him, eyebrows scrunching together.

'Oops, wrong question to ask. Should have known better.'

"How would I know? I assume he would though since they'd all be there to sign up for the American Football Club." Kotarou crossed his arms and practically pouted as he began muttering to himself.

Sena took that as his cue to leave, waving a quick goodbye to the unusually broody boy before making his way to the stands in search of Takami.

"Sena, over here!" The older boy waved him over and Sena sat himself down with Takami on his right and another tall, broody looking boy to his left.

"Alright, did you want to take notes or pictures?" "I think it would be better if you took the pictures, you're taller and are less likely to have the people in front of us get in the shot." Sena replied, looking at the boy on his left curiously.

He was tall, maybe even taller then Takami and he was craning his neck as if he was searching for something or someone. As if he could sense himself being watched his eyes slowly turned to rest on Sena.

'Wow, his eyes are really pretty.'

"Is there something you needed?" He asked, quite politely considering he'd just caught Sena staring at him.

"Oh, I was just wondering if you were looking for someone." Sena replied shyly.

"Yes, I've heard rumors about someone calling themselves Eyeshield 21 being on one of these teams, but I can't see anyone with an eyeshield..." The boy trailed off and frowned.

"Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the Eyeshield 21 of the Bando Spiders transferred two weeks ago." "I see." The boy got up from his and began seat and began walking away as Sena looked up at him in amazement. 'I think he might be over six feet tall.'

"Takami-niichan, do you suppose he plays football?" Sena leaned over to his right and whispered and Takami glimpsed at the retreating figure. "Well, if he is I don't remember seeing him, maybe he's a first year." "No way! A first year, that tall?" "Sakuraba hit his growth spurt early on too, it's not uncommon."

Sena finally turned his eyes away from the tall boy. 'He was looking for an Eyeshield 21... I wonder if Akaba-san was the one he was really trying to find though? There are too many of us to keep track of, but I suppose at least all the different Eyeshields are colour coded.' Sena chuckled a bit and Takami turned to look at him.

"And what, pray tell, do you find so amusing?" "Oh, nothing really. Anyways, about the things you wanted me to keep track of..."

The game turned out to be more one-sided then Sena had thought it was going to be, sure Kotarou had managed to kick the ball into the field goal a couple of times, but ultimately Seibu's offence was way to much for Bando's defense to handle.

"Woah." "Woah indeed, they'll definitely advance to the semi-finals, I think even Shin will have a bit of trouble stopping that number fifteen." "Yeah..."

Sena searched the Seibu members once more, most of them still had their helmets on even after the game ended and he didn't see any particularly fast runners that were his height.

'Of course Riku may have grown more then me, he was my height several years ago but who knows how tall he is now.' He handed the notes he had taken to Takami as they filed out of the bleachers, sending a worried look over to the Bando players.

"Did you want to go over there?" Takami asked, following the direction of Sena's gaze and Sena shook his head. "No, this is something that as a team they should learn from and grow stronger by, I wouldn't want to be the outsider who's there trying to make them feel better. It's kind of awkward when I really only know two of them."

They got off of the bleachers and made their way towards the street when a flash of white finally caught Sena's eye.

He turned around, a smile spreading on his face while Takami raised an eyebrow at his expression.

There was Riku, just arriving at the field apparently and getting a firm talking to by the coach about being late. The boy didn't appear to be paying attention though and allowed his eyes to wander, casually moving past Sena before snapping back to look at him.

Blue met brown and Sena raised his hand to wave shyly as Riku grinned, brushing past his coach and jogging towards the duo.

"Sena, it's been such a long time!" He exclaimed, wrapping an arm around Sena's shoulder and giving him a noogie. "Riku, you haven't changed at all." Sena said happily as he swatted Riku's hand away. "Neither have you."

Their attention was torn away from each other when Takami coughed lightly into his fist.

"Sena, who's this?" Sena opened his mouth to introduce him, but Riku stepped forward, beaming proudly.

"I'm Sena's big brother."

Takami raised an eyebrow. "Oh? I'm afraid if anyone is Sena's older brother figure, it's going to be me."

Sena took a step back as the air seemed to suddenly crackle with tension, Takami and Riku both narrowing their eyes at each other.

"I taught Sena how to run." "I taught him quadratic functions and helped him get his kitten." "I helped save him from bullies!" "I taught him about American Football." "Well I-"

"Would both of you stop it? It's not like we're actually related by blood and you both are like brothers to me." Sena crossed his arms, pouting childishly.

Riku swiftly moved back to Sena's side. "Alright I'll stop. But I had no idea you were into football. Do you play? Which team did you join?" "Oh, I don't play, I'm just the manager for the Deimon Devil Bats." "I see."

"Riku, get over here! Don't think I'm letting you get away with arriving _after_ the game!" The coach said angrily, waving his pistols around madly.

"I'd better get back before he decides that shooting will make me go over there faster. But before I do." He took Sena's hand in his own and pulled a pen out of his pant pocket.

"This is my cell phone number, give me a call, maybe you can come to our next game?" "I'll see if I can."

Riku ran off, Sena watching him go with an almost dreamy smile on his face.

"I must admit, I don't think I've ever met anyone with as many older sibling figures as you." Takami said with a slight smile as he shook his head. "I deeply pity whoever becomes a suitor for you, they'll never make it past the first line of defense, unless they have inside help."


	31. Chapter 31

FASH: I'm glad everyone liked Takami's last line in chapter 30, I think it's my favorite line in this whole fic so far.

""-speech

''-thoughts

"Suitor?" Sena cocked his head curiously. "You mean someone who wants to date me?" "Yes, something along those lines." Takami adjusted his glasses, the lenses flashing coyly. "Well, I don't think you'll have to worry about that for a while yet Takami-niichan, no one likes me as anything more then a friend."

Takami 'hmm'ed, but made no further comment as he started walking, Sena trailing behind him curiously.

'I wonder if Takami-niichan knows something that I don't?'

They walked together for a while before going their separate ways, Sena had almost made it home when a thought struck him.

'I should have asked him how Sakuraba-san was doing!' He hadn't really thought about the tall receiver for a while now, the guilt at having done something to make the other boy hospitalized, although it really wasn't completely his fault, had been pushed aside in his mind to make room for more current events.

'And I can't just randomly call and ask now because Takami-niichan will just _know_ that I'd forgotten.' Sena sighed tiredly. 'I suppose I can try and find out for myself, there's no doubt in my mind that there's going to be some station with frequent updates about his condition, otherwise his fangirls would revolt.'

Of course as exciting as channel surfing sounded, maybe he could just ask Hiruma. He vaguely remembered that the first time he had asked the blonde had told him something about not collecting unimportant information, but surely if he asked nicely Hiruma could look into it for him. Of course asking Hiruma a favor didn't sound too safe...

He sighed again and brought up a hand to rub at his temples, but he paused as he caught sight of the numbers scrawled onto his palm in blue ink.

'I wonder when it would be a good time to call? I should have given him my cell number too since I don't know if his coach is going to make him do laps until sundown or something as a punishment for coming late. Man, I just keep forgetting things today.'

He arrived home and made his way up to his room, there was no way he was going to allow himself to forget about the English homework he had due tomorrow.

'I'll call Riku after the recruitment meeting tomorrow, it'd be nice if a lot of people came...'

"Sena, Mamori-chan called while you were out." His mother said, poking her head in through the door. "Tomorrow morning she wants you to meet a couple of your teammates at the Kariya Cream Puff store. Something about buying some for a recruitment meeting." "Did she say what time?" "Forty minutes before school I believe. Do you think you'll be late tomorrow?" "If all goes well, maybe."

She nodded to herself and caught sight of the text book Sena was holding.

"Well, I'll just leave you to your homework then, there are a couple sandwiches in the fridge if you get hungry and I'll be going out for a while okay?" "Bye."

His mother left, closing the door behind her and Sena opened up his textbook and workbook, diligently jotting down answers while attempting to keep his mind from wandering.

'It really would be nice if a bunch of people showed up tomorrow...'

Sena nervously checked his cell phone as he sat with Monta, Hiruma and Kurita in the clubhouse, waiting for the meeting to start. Kurita was dozing off, he hadn't slept at all the night before due to excitement.

"Fifteen minutes to go." He put his phone away and looked at the table of cream puffs that he Monta and Kurita had gotten that morning.

'One hundred cream puffs, that's a lot of pastry. I wonder if Mamori-neechan was the one who suggested we get them? She's awfully obsessed with them...'

"G-guys?" Mamori opened the door to the clubhouse, eyes wide and eyebrows high. "I think I'm going to need some help."

Monta was immediately out of his seat, Sena not far behind and Hiruma following after them. Mamori opened the door wider so that they could properly see what exactly she needed help for.

A huge crowd of Deimon students were headed their way, a lot more then Sena had expect to show up.

"I think we're going to have to create a method to this madness, we can't just let them all in at once." Sena commented. "Do you want to set up the interviews by position? And then we'll number each group so that it's not as confusing?"

Mamori turned to him and smiled. "That's a wonderful idea Sena, I'll go set everything up with the recruits, could you and Monta start getting the tea and cream puffs ready?" "Sure."

The day was turning to be busier than anyone had expected it to be and after organizing the crowd they were finally ready to call the first person in.

"We'll start by asking them the position they want to play, but we'll be able to figure out what they'd be best suited for by looking at the way they carry themselves." Hiruma explained casually. "It's all in the way they make their entrance, offensive types are more professional, while defensive types are more casual."

"Really? I don't think I've ever heard of reasoning like that before..." Sena tapped at his lips thoughtfully. 'You learn something new everyday.' "In any case, let's call in the first person."

"E-Excuse me!" The door was opened and Sena was surprised to see a familiar face walk in and promptly sit down, back impeccably straight and hands resting lightly on his knees.

"Offense." Hiruma, Kurita and Monta chimed together and Yukimitsu gave them a confused look before giving a slight nod in Sena's direction, Sena waved back.

"My name is Yukimitsu Manabu, second year, home room four."

"Second year?" Hiruma questioned, cocking one eyebrow and Yukimitsu averted his eyes nervously. "Is it a problem that I'm a second year?" "There wouldn't be any good-" "Don't worry about it!" Kurita said loudly in an attempt to drown Hiruma's voice out.

"Yukimitsu-san, what made you decided to join the football team? Won't your mother be angry?" Sena asked in concern. "Well, ever since first grade I've always gone to cram school and wasn't allowed to do any extra curricular activities, and once I'm in third year I have to take the exams, so as a final memory-"

"Did you say 'memory'? We're here to win you fucking baldy!" Hiruma interrupted and Yukimitsu flinched a bit at the nickname, but quickly regained his composure.

"Of course I intend to play to win! For whatever it's worth, I'll do the best I can!" He slumped in his seat slightly. "I'm not well built, but I saw the game the other day, and when I see the little guy from Notre Dame become Eyeshield, the hero... It gives me the courage to fight."

Sena felt his cheeks burn.

"He fearlessly confronts whatever difficulty he faces, I want to follow his example and do my best."

"Uh, well... That's very kind of you." Sena said nervously. 'I don't think I've ever been anyone's role model before. This is kind of nerve wracking.'

Soon they were ready for the next interview, a first year named Komusubi Daikichi who literally burst into the room, pretty much knocking the door off of it's hinges and landing ungracefully, flat on his face.

"Wh-what? Who's this?" Kurita asked worriedly as he peered over the table at the boy on the floor.

"How would I know?" Hiruma asked gruffly and Sena had to quell the urge to turn to look at him and ask: There's someone in the school you don't know? But maybe Hiruma was just lying to keep from scaring the potential recruit away.

"One thing's for sure... This guy is..."

"Defense." The four men said in unison as Mamori knelt beside the boy.

"A-are you alright?"

The boy instantly picked himself up off of the ground. "Year one, home room one. Komusubi..." He turned to look at Kurita. "Apprentice!" He said with a strong conviction and Monta and Sena gave each other questioning looks.

"You mean you want to be a lineman?" Kurita asked and Komusubi nodded reverently.

"Yay! I've got a buddy on the line!" Kurita smiled widely. "Let's go for it!"

Komusubi's eyes watered and he mirrored Kurita's smile before running out of the clubhouse, the people outside scurrying to get out of his way.

The interviews went on, the majority of the people coming in appeared to be more interested in Eyeshield and the possibility of publicity instead of the game, there were a couple who were fans of the linemen's strength and Hiruma's passes. But by the end no one had mentioned Monta's catching to be their reason for wanting to join, something Sena couldn't help but find strange since so many people had been cheering the receiver on during the game.

'Maybe all the people who were cheering for him were all the ones who'd just like to keep American Football as a spectator sport?' Sena turned to look at Monta.

Clearly the lack of attention was getting to him.

"I'm gonna make sure I'm an ace before the next broadcast." Monta said under his breath, clenching his fists in determination and turning to look at Sena. "We're buddies. But on the field we're rivals." He said lowly, giving the other brunette a thumbs up.

"The three Huh Huh Brothers didn't show up." Kurita said mournfully and Hiruma scoffed. "They're as good as part of the team already. If they really wanted to give up they would have done so by now."

"Everyone who came out today, it would be great if they could all stay with the team." Mamori said as she began cleaning up, Sena and Monta moving to assist her.

"Oh, I'd hate it if they all ended up quitting after a couple practices." Kurita replied and Hiruma pursed his lips together thoughtfully.

"We'll have a team try-out." He snapped his laptop shut. "I'll need a couple days to _arrange_ everything, spread the word that try-outs will happen Thursday after school." He smiled widely and Sena resisted the urge to shudder.

"Hiruma-san, what kind of try-out is it going to be?"

The blonde stood up and began making his way to the door. "I think I'm going to call it the Tower of Hell."

'Tower of Hell?' Sena frowned at the name. 'I wish he'd give it a normal name, just knowing what Hiruma-san is like coupled with that name will probably scare people away. Although that may be his intention, some of the guys who came to the meeting didn't really seem like they cared about the game all too much. I suppose whatever this turns out to be is going to separate the people who actually want to join from the people who just want to look cool.'

But still, for Hiruma to actually need a couple days to prepare for it? This wasn't going to end up being a simple climb up several flights of stairs.

'I just hope it won't turn out as bad as it sounds.'

Once the clubhouse was cleaned up they all went their separate ways, Sena pulling out his phone and flipping through his contacts list, going to the number he had added the night before and hitting the 'send' button.

He held it up to his ear anxiously as it rang three times before he heard a voice on the other end.

"Hello?" Riku greeted, slightly out of breath. 'He must have just finished practice.'

"Hey Riku, it's Sena."


	32. Chapter 32

FASH: Woah, an update for the third day in a row, I'm on a roll this week.

""-speech

''-thoughts

"Sena? It's great to hear from you. Do you know if you could come to out next game yet?" Riku asked eagerly and Sena bit his lip.

"I'm not sure, Hiruma-san might want to put the team through some more training. We're having team try-out to get ready for the Autumn Tournament so we'll hopefully be getting a couple more players so I'm really not sure, sorry."

"No, it's okay." Riku paused to catch his breath. "Do you think maybe we could meet up some other time though? There's so much I want to catch up on, is Mamori-neechan still keeping watch over you?"

Sena laughed. "Yeah, and I've got a couple other people looking after me now too." "Like the guy you were with yesterday?" Sena could almost hear the frown in Riku's voice. "That was the quarterback for Oujou right?" "Um-hm." "What were you doing with him?"

Sena paused mid-step. "Well, it's a really long story, I'll have to tell it to you the next time we see each other in person. Anyways, did you just get out of practice?" "Yes, the coach had me running a bunch of extra laps too, since I was late yesterday." "Remember to keep yourself hydrated, don't wait until you're thirsty because that's just a late sign that you need water." "I'll be sure to remember that Mister Manager." Riku said dryly and Sena chuckled.

"I'll call you again once all this try-out madness is over okay? By then I'll probably know if I'll be able to catch your next game." "Sounds good, I'll talk to you later Sena." "Bye Riku."

Sena pulled the phone away from his ear, smiling brightly. 'I hope I don't have to train when Riku's next game is going on. But even if I miss it I'm sure his team will win and then he'll go on to face... Oujou.' Sena blanched. 'I wonder if that was the reason why Riku and Takami-niichan seemed hostile towards each other?'

The next two days flew by, Hiruma was constantly on his laptop 'arranging' things and he had called Rui over to give him a huge box of something to 'work on' with his teammates.

'I suppose he's just making the most of his resources, even though resources in this case really refers to slaves.'

But all of this preparation was making Sena curious, even he had something to do for the Tower of Hell try-out. It was just making name-tags, but he could help but find it strange that even he was helping out.

Thursday morning practice was eerily void of gunshots, Hiruma claimed to be saving up on ammunition for later that day, even Rui was oddly quiet when he came by to deliver the box of whatever it was Hiruma had given him to work on.

Of course maybe that was just because he thought saying anything in the presence of Hiruma at the moment would give him more work to do.

All throughout class Sena nervously shifted on his seat. 'Tower of Hell, something that takes even Hiruma-san a couple of days to prepare for. A tower of hell... A nearby tower...' He had a sudden sneaking suspicion that he knew what this 'Tower of Hell' was going to turn out to be.

'But there's no way that even Hiruma-san could do that, right?'

The final bell rang and he slid from his seat uneasily. 'I guess I'm about to find out.' He turned to look at Juumonji, Kuroki and Toganou who still hadn't bothered packing up their stuff.

"Are you guys coming to the team try-out?" He asked lightly and Juumonji gave him a barely perceivable nod while Kuroki and Toganou looked at him incredulously.

"Why would we want to do that? Sounds like a waste of time." Kuroki said lazily.

"Knowing Hiruma it'll probably turn out to be worse then a Tower of Hell." Toganou continued, slowly flipping through a volume of manga and Sena crossed his arms, slightly ticked off at their lack of motivation.

"Well, if you guys are too scared to do it I guess you can stay behind. But Hiruma-san already considers you a permanent part of the team and thus he's making a Devil's Handbook dedicated to each of you." Sena attempted to imitated one of Hiruma's smirks, but he quickly decided that it wouldn't work on them anyways, so he settled for smiling innocently.

"Just think, soon he'll have an entire book filled with everything he deems important about your life, the little bits of blackmail he had on you in the first place won't even compare to the stuff he's going to find out and put in there."

Kuroki's eyebrow twitched. "What the fuck? Are you trying to threaten us?" Sena shook his head and clasped his hands in front of him innocently.

"That's Hiruma-san's forte, not mine, besides, I know that deep down inside you really do like playing, because you've been putting your all into the games. So it really would be best if you just came to the tryout."

Sena turned on his heel and strutted out of the classroom towards the school's courtyard where the people wanting to take the tryout were waiting.

Juumonji stood up determinedly and Kuroki rose his eyebrows before sighing in exasperation. "You're not seriously going are you?" His eyes moved over to Toganou who was packing up his things.

"You're both crazy." He stated before standing up. "But I suppose we have to go if Juumonji's going, if this turns out to be a true Tower of Hell Juumonji's fear of heights might get to him." He smirked.

"Sh-shut up!" Juumonji barked back and Kuroki lazily began making his way to the front of the classroom.

"Man, for such a little twerp Sena's got a bit of a conniving streak in him. But I guess that happens when you run with a gang."

Juumonji resisted the urge to bury his head in his hands. 'I can't believe he still thinks that.'

Fifteen minutes later and everyone was on a train bound for the mystery location of the Tower of Hell. Sena could already hear a couple people complaining about how they'd quit if they had to run up more then ten floors.

'I think a lot of people are going to quit as soon as they see what they've got to run up.' Because the direction the train was going in left absolutely no doubt in Sena's mind what the Tower of Hell was.

It was Tokyo Tower.

"I reserved it for the day." Hiruma practically bragged to him with a cackle and Sena couldn't help but sweatdrop. 'I can't believe this guy's information network.'

He let his eyes wander around a little and saw Mamori standing beside a huge tube of ice. 'Oh, I have a bad feeling about this.'

"Hey, go change into your uniform after I explain everything." Hiruma said lowly, thrusting a duffle bag into Sena's arms.

"Okay you guys, the rules are simple!" Hiruma called out loudly and everyone snapped their attention to him.

"The goal is the special observatory! The fucking fatty is up there waiting to make snow cones, you've got to bring him the ice! It doesn't matter how much ice you carry, if it melts you can come back for refills, as long as you have some ice left when you reach the goal line you'll make the cut!" Hiruma smirked and walked into an elevator.

"And watch out, the ice may melt faster than you think it will." He cackled evilly as the doors shut and Sena turned to look at Mamori curiously.

"Why would the ice melt faster?" "We added sugar to it, Hiruma-kun said that a couple more obstacles would... Well, to put it in nicer terms: 'separate the men from the boys'." "I see. Well I'm going to go get Eyeshield now, he'll be over here soon."

Sena wandered around looking for a place to change, holding the duffle bag tightly to his chest.

"Hey, what are you looking for?" Sena twitched a bit at the sound of Juumonji's voice and he turned to face him.

"Juumonji-kun, did Kuroki-kun and Toganou-kun come as well?" "Yeah, they decided they might as well come along. So, what are you looking for?" "Oh, Hiruma-san wants me to do the try-out as Eyeshield, but I can't seem to find any place to change..." He trailed off as Juumonji took his hand and began leading him off in the opposite direction. "There's an open storage closet for the big 'Closed Today' sign and some other stuff around this way, we can't lock it without the key but I'll make sure no one barges in on you." "Oh, thank you."

Upon finding the small room Sena went in and began changing into his uniform as quickly as he could, not wanting to keep Juumonji from his friends for too long in case they thought something was up.

"Hey, was it true what you said earlier?" Juumonji asked from the other side of the door. "You know, that Hiruma already considers us a part of the team."

"Yeah, all of us think of you as our teammates, you've been with us from the beginning after all." Sena replied, taking his eyeshield out of the bag and putting it on. "And I was telling the truth about the Devil's Handbook thing too, I wanted you guys to know in advance so you don't get too freaked out if Hiruma-san knows your life story."

He exited the door and gave him a thankful nod before running towards the ice where Monta was waiting for him. He took a small bag and filled it with a dozen cubes, Monta having already done the same.

"Do you think I should take more?" "Nah, then it'll get heavy. If you keep it light you'll be the first one up there." Monta explained cooly before gasping as if he had come to a sudden realization.

"Looks like this is going to be a man-to-man fight between us." "You want to make this into a competition?" "It's not as if I could win in a foot race." Monta explained, stretching out his legs. "But I can beat you in a vertical race with my jumping ability." He suddenly began bounding up the stairs. "That last one up has to buy the other lunch for a week!" "Hey, no fair!"

Juumonji strode over to Toganou and Kuroki, both gave him curious glances but didn't bother asking him where he'd run off to.

"So, finally ready to climb the tower Juumonji?" Kuroki asked, drawling out his name slowly as he picked up a bag with a small amount of ice like the one he and Toganou were carrying and handing it to him.

Then he was suddenly pushed to the side and all three of them turned to stare at a boy not even half their height, apparently set on carrying his own wight in ice.

He glanced at their small bags and snorted as if to say 'you're pathetic'.

The trio's reaction was instantaneous.

"That jerk!" They quickly grabbed bigger bags for themselves and scooped more ice into them.

"He's going down!"


	33. Chapter 33

FASH: Okay, some people have been asking about a set pairing for this fic and since I'm all freakishly in love with all the pairings I'm hinting at I think I might do multiple 'endings' after my actual ending which won't have any set pairing, or something like that. I guess it would be kind of like how I ended 'Blondes'. Because it's just too hard to choose! Aaand it'll turn out shonen-ai. As cute as Suzuna is I don't really see her with Sena.

""-speech

''-thoughts

Sena finally made it to the top of the tower after passing by some rather tricky obstacles for the second time, his and Monta's ice having melted in the 'Cauldron of Hell' the first time.

Monta had been the first to roll in the door, but his ice had melted in the same instant and thus Sena was crowned victor of their 'man-to-man fight' and was left waiting with Kurita and Hiruma as Monta went down for more ice.

He made it back up to the top incredibly fast though, Sena couldn't help but wonder how much jumping ability the other boy had.

They waited around for others to arrive, Sena changed back into his school uniform and Hiruma left the room on occasion to 'become the Guardian of Hell.'

Juumonji was the next one to reach the special observatory, Komusubi not too far behind and Kuroki and Toganou trailing after him.

Then they waited and waited for someone else to make it up. Sena had begun to nervously look down at the ground below, he could hardly see from up here, but it looked like a lot of students were beginning to give up and starting to walk back to the train station.

Mamori came up on the elevator and informed them that no one was left down on the ground and Sena frowned in concern.

'Yukimitsu-san doesn't seem like the type to give up.'

Everyone had begun to stand up, ready to leave when Yukimitsu fell in through the door. Mamori rushed forward and knelt beside him, Monta and Sena close behind as Kurita sadly inspected the contents of the bag Yukimitsu had been carrying as he poured it into the bucket.

"Aw, it's all melted." He said sadly.

Then Sena caught a slight movement out of the corner of his eye. He turned slightly and watched carefully as Hiruma took an ice cube from the shaved-ice machine and put it in with the rest of the water. 'No way.'

"Hey, there's one little cube left." Hiruma announced, pointing at the frozen water with one of his guns.

"The fucking baldy made the cut!" He announced. "Now let's get going, fucking fatty you help take him back down." Kurita nodded and gently picked up the second year as he made his way to the elevator.

Mamori, Monta and Komusubi were the next ones to go down, followed by Juumonji, Kuroki and Toganou.

As he and Hiruma waited for the elevator Sena turned to him with a wide smile.

"I saw that you know, that was a really nice thing you did." Hiruma snorted. "I wouldn't call it 'nice', besides, this try-out was to see who had the perseverance to keep going, he showed us he had what it takes, so I decided to bend the rules a bit."

"No matter what you say, you still did something nice." Sena replied casually and Hiruma bristled slightly. "But don't worry, I won't tell anyone... As long as you tell me the hospital and room that Sakuraba-san is staying in."

The elevator doors opened with a 'ding' and they both stepped in, Hiruma pressing the button for the ground floor with a sigh.

"If you're going to try and blackmail someone, you've got to make sure the blackmail you have is within reason. It won't work if no one's going to believe you." He threw Sena a sharp look. "Besides, can't you ask _Takami-niichan _where Sakuraba is now?"

"I forgot to ask the last time I saw him, I figured this was the easier way." "Really?" "Mm-hm."

Hiruma shifted the rifle against his shoulder. "I told you before I don't keep track of irrelevant information like that. I'll tell you tomorrow."

Sena practically beamed at him but quickly hardened his expression when he realized they'd be reaching the bottom soon.

He didn't feel like explaining why he had an ecstatic expression after being confined in a small amount of space with Hiruma any time soon.

The elevator stopped moving and the doors slowly slid open, Hiruma stepping out first and although Sena was behind him and thus couldn't see his expression, he could just tell that the older boy was grinning due to the look on everyone else's face.

"Starting tomorrow after school I'm going to whip you all into shape." He laughed dryly. "And we're going to have practice every night and on the weekend until I see some improvement."

"Huh?" "Huuh?" "Huuuuh?!"

"Hiruma-kun, isn't every night a little too much?" Mamori quipped lightly and Hiruma glared at her.

"No, it's not."

'Well, I guess I won't be able to see go see Riku's next game then.' Sena pursed his lips together. 'But I guess it can't be helped, at least I'll be able to make it to the next game.'

He stepped towards Mamori and gave a quick wave goodbye to everyone before they began making their way to the train station and then to their respective homes in a comfortable silence.

Upon entering his room Sena took out his cell and called Riku who accepted the news of Sena's inability to come to the game rather well, just as long as he would make it to the next match.

"Of course, I wouldn't want to miss that match no matter what, Hiruma-san might even bring the team along to watch, like a field trip." "I see, so who's side are you going to cheer for?" "... Huh?" Sena blinked up at his ceiling dumbly. "Can't I cheer for both?"

Sena heard Riku sigh from the other end and he got the distinct impression that his answer wasn't the one Riku wanted.

"Sena, you're a manager so you know who all the greatest players are, right?"

"Yeah, why?" "In your opinion, who's the best player?"

Sena tapped his foot thoughtfully. 'Agon-san is pretty amazing whenever he bothers to play, but in the end...'

"Shin-san of the Oujou White Knights, he has speed, strength, endurance and is always putting effort into his training, he's amazing."

Riku stayed silent and Sena nervously continued. "Of course it's not like I know everybody and I haven't even seen you play yet."

"True, I'll have to show you how much my running's improved since you last saw it." Riku said proudly. "Anyways, I guess with you having after school practice and practice on the weekends all the time we won't be able to meet up until after the game with Oujou, so I'll see you then. Bye Sena."

"Bye." Sena hung up and began making his way back downstairs.

'If Hiruma-san's going to tell me where Sakuraba-san is tomorrow I'd better get some flowers or something so I can go apologize right after practice. Or would flowers be to girly?'

He passed the kitchen and his mother threw a curious look in his direction.

"Sena, supper will be ready soon, so don't go out for too long okay?" "Yeah, I'll be right back."

He exited the front door and began sprinting to the nearest plaza at full speed and purchased a basket of fruit.

'Now all that's left is to hope Hiruma-san bothered looking up his hospital and room number for me.'

The next morning he brought the basket of fruit to school and stored it away in the clubhouse with an apology note he had written the night prior.

School went by in a flurry of note writing and lecture listening while after school practice dragged on in a pleasant way, Sena had never had so many people practicing with him before and it was nice to see all of his teammates trying to improve.

He easily dismissed the thought that some of them might be trying so hard to improve so that Hiruma wouldn't force them to practice everyday.

"He's at Joka-Machi Municipal Hospital, room 418." The blonde informed him dully five minutes before practice was scheduled to end. "Just make sure no one finds out about that pathetic apology note that you wrote, it'll ruin the image of you I'm trying to build."

From behind the eyeshield Sena gave a small smile. "And I'm sure that would be very devastating for you, all that hard work and deceit going to waste. But don't worry, I'll keep my pathetic apology note a secret to everyone who would exploit it's contents."

After practice he changed back into his school uniform and began making his way to Joka-Machi, Monta trailing behind him curiously.

"Sakuraba-san is the ace receiver for the White Knights right?" "Uh... I suppose that's what he's, um, 'advertised' as, yes." "Awesome, I've got to know how he became famous for his catch! I'm going to ask him to be my mentor!"

"Mentor?" 'I guess Monta watched Sports-A-Go-Go when they had the Sakuraba-san special going.'

They approached the hospital, nervously glancing around at the small groups of girls who were milling around the entrance.

They passed by one girl who was chatting on the phone with someone, mentioning something about calling back if they saw anyone from Oujou enter the building.

'These girls are kind of scary.'

The entered the hospital without a problem and Sena let out a sigh. 'There's one obstacle passed.'

"Man." Monta began, unnecessarily loud. "It's a good thing they don't know we're here to visit Sakuraba-san."

Apparently the glass doors weren't as soundproof as he thought they were, because suddenly there was a shout from outside.

"They know Sakuraba-kun's room number!"

Sena and Monta threw each other a fearful look before taking off, a horde of girls not far behind.


	34. Chapter 34

FASH: Woo, going to visit Sakuraba a week early, heh heh heh...

""-speech

''-thoughts

Monta and Sena dashed up several sets of stairs, making sharp turns down quite hallways at random until they were sure they had left the pack behind.

"Woah, all that training's Hiruma-san's been putting us through is useful in real life too." Monta said breathlessly and Sena nodded.

"Let's hurry to Sakuraba-san's room before they manage to find us." He whispered lowly before darting towards the stairs, Monta close behind.

They found Sakuraba's room without much trouble and Sena politely knocked on the door before opening it and slipping it inside, Monta in tow.

"Sena-kun?" Sakuraba shifted in his hospital bed to sit up a bit straighter.

"Hi Sakuraba-san, I'm here to-" "Sena? What are you doing here?"

The brunette turned his head. "Takami-niichan, Shin-san... We're here to-"

"Here it is! Sakuraba-kun's room!" There was a multitude of squeals from outside the door before the room began flooding full of girls carrying bouquets and questioning Sakuraba's condition.

Monta had leapt into a corner so as not to be swept away by the 'tide' but Sena hadn't thought that far ahead and was quickly pushed against a wall, pinned to the spot by the mass of bodies in front of him, holding the basket of fruit over his head in an attempt to keep it from sharing the same fate as himself.

"Um, could you please-" He sentence was cut off when an over enthusiastic girl attempted to push herself forward, her elbow flinging back into his chest.

'Ow...' He clenched his eyes shut. 'That really hurt.'

But suddenly the bodies keeping him pressed up against the wall moved away and Sena flicked open his eyes. 'Maybe they've calmed down enough to realize they're crushing an innocent bystander?'

He was face to chest with Shin, who had apparently easily made his way through the throng of girls to stand in front of Sena, his hands pressed against the wall on either side of Sena to ensure that he wouldn't be jostled anymore.

"Are you alright? That girl, she elbowed you in the ribs." Shin flicked his eye in the direction of the female before resting on Sena again.

"It looked like it hurt."

"Oh, I'm fine now Shin-san, it doesn't hurt anymore." Sena reassured, even though there was still a dull throbbing in the place he'd been elbowed.

Shin appeared to believe him, but he stayed in place to make sure the younger boy wouldn't be hurt again.

Then the head nurse loomed in the doorway, head cocked a little too far to the side to be normal and eyes freakishly wide.

"You're disturbing my patients, if you don't get out soon I'll curse you!" Her voice carried over the rest of the noise and the girls turned to look at her, frightened.

"NOW!" The nurse ordered and the girls began streaming out of the room, complaining dramatically about the short amount of time they had been in the room for.

When the last girl left the head nurse closed the door behind them, but not before taking a good look at the boys inside the room and saying: "If you disturb my other patients, I'll curse you too!"

Shin moved away from Sena to stand beside Takami as the quarterback made small talk with the receiver and Monta came away from the corner, standing beside Sena awkwardly.

"The whole team will be coming over for a visit soon, we've just been really busy with practice lately." "I understand, it's a busy time of year for the team, well, busier than usual." The blonde's eyes roamed over to the pair from Deimon curiously.

"Sena-kun, who's your friend?" "This is the Devil Bats' new receiver Raimon Taro, we came to apologize for what happened." Sena moved forward and set the basket of fruit on Sakuraba's bedside table and handed him the apology note. "Eyeshield didn't mean to do it, really, Hiruma-san's just making it seem that way."

"It's alright, I shouldn't have wandered onto the field in the first place, and I figured that it was Hiruma-kun saying all those things about it being a 'homicide tackle'." Sakuraba smiled nervously as he took the apology note. "It's hard to believe that you can put up with him all the time."

Takami adjusted his glasses, glancing at Monta. "Yes, tell me Taro-kun, Hiruma-kun doesn't pick on Sena when Mamori-chan isn't around, does he?"

"I wouldn't really say it's being picked on." Monta replied dryly. "Because he treats Sena just like the rest of us, and the way he treats people normally isn't really normal if you," He paused dramatically. "Get my drift." His hand made a small sweeping motion in front of him.

Takami nodded in understanding and, upon noticing Sena's questioning look, explained himself.

"I get the feeling that if I asked you you'd say he was treating you fine no matter what was really going on, I just wanted another opinion." He turned back to Sakuraba and fretted over him for several more minutes before having to leave so that he could finish up his homework, Shin trailing along behind him.

With the two older boys out of the room Monta's reservation leapt out the window and he sprung forward, giving poor Sakuraba a fright.

"You're awesome MAX! How did you come to be such a popular ace receiver? What's your secret to being a catching hero?" He asked enthusiastically and Sakuraba shied away, hands clenching his bed sheets and bowing his head so that his eyes were shadowed.

'Uh-oh. I don't like the looks of this.'

"Every time I catch a pass, it's just dumb luck. Everyone's building up my image and their expectations rise with it even if they have no idea what they're talking about. A hero? An ace? Those titles are more trouble then their worth."

Monta blinked once, _very slowly_, before his face darkened.

"What do you mean too much trouble to be a hero!? How can you say that where there are people out there who idolize you?!"

"None of them idolize me for my ability, they're just under the false impression that I'm a great player."

Monta opened his mouth to retort, but stopped when Sena placed a hand on his shoulder.

"With all due respect Sakuraba-san, I think you need a bit of an attitude adjustment." He nervously averted his eyes. "Yes, you're not the best receiver there is, I've seen you in games and I've seen your stats and I know you have a lot you need to improve in, but there's no need to be so negative about it..." He looked back at Sakuraba, who seemed to be more shocked then angry at him.

"May I continue?" "Uh, sure."

"Your height helps Takami-niichan do his best as quarterback, you're his ideal receiver. When you do catch his passes, they're passes that no one but you would be able to catch because you're so tall, and they're also incredibly hard to intercept. Sure you need to improve, but there's always room for improvement. Someday you'll be a hero and an ace in the eyes of someone who actually understands the game, when you are I think you'll find that it's not as much trouble as you think it is." He removed his hand from Monta's shoulder and motioned the other boy to follow him.

They exited the room just as the head nurse came back.

"You'll be getting a roommate in a short while, it's a boy so he probably won't cause any unnecessary trouble, or I'll curse him!"

They made their way out of the hospital, Monta staring at Sena with a wide smile.

"Nicely said Sena! That's was awesome max! I couldn't have said it better myself." Monta hooked an arm around Sena's shoulders and Sena lowered his gaze to his feet.

"I just don't think it's right for him to think like that, he won't improve if he doesn't have a positive attitude and Takami-niichan needs him to improve because Sakuraba-san can make the most of Takami-niichan's high passes."

"True, very true." Monta nodded his head wisely before springing away and snapping his fingers.

"Hey, I just realized that you introduced me by my actual name! Why do you keep calling me 'Monta' anyways? You aren't making fun of me are you?" His eyes narrowed slightly and Sena nervously smiled.

"Of course I'm not making fun of you... I got it from Joe Montana, he's one of the greatest superstars in NFL history..."

Monta grinned from ear to ear before pointing to himself proudly. "Call me Monta!"

"... Alright."

Time went by with more classes flying by and more practices dragging on until the Spring Season Regional Tournament was just around the corner, somehow Sena was able to convince Hiruma to cancel the practice on Sunday morning in favor going to see the Tokyo Tournament finals.

"Why not, it'll give some of the new guys the chance to see a game instead of just participate in one." He'd agreed rather easily when Sena had asked.

"Plus maybe seeing two decent teams play will get them pumped up, Huh Huh Brother number one seems to be doing fine, but the other two are just following his lead. I wouldn't be surprised if they got ticked off after a while."

"But I thought you said they were already as good as a part of the team."

"Just because they'll be ticked off doesn't mean they'll bother leaving." Hiruma's trademark grin spread across his face. "Trust me."


	35. Chapter 35

FASH: The Seibu vs Oujou game goes the same as it did originally and Sena'll find out why Riku's always late soon. Glad everyone liked it when Shin was protecting Sena from the rabid fangirls last chapter, that was fun to write. Man, I'm going to have to write the Taiyo game soon, good God...

""-speech

''-thoughts

The morning of the Tokyo Tournament finals had come and the Devil Bats easily made their way to Eiko Municipal Field, courtesy of Rui and several of his teammates' motorcycles.

Even though the game had yet to begin Seibu's cheerleaders were already getting worked up, jumping around, waving their pom poms, firing the fake guns that were a part of their costume, the whole shebang.

The majority of the people watching them were apparently overcome with amazement, the Devil Bats included.

"Well... This is quite a spectacle." Monta said with wide eyes. "It kind of makes you wonder if they're all show."

Sena frowned slightly. "They couldn't be all show if they made it this far. Besides, if we judged football teams by their cheering squads, well, we'd be pretty unpopular because we don't even have one." He raised himself up onto his toes to search over the crowd.

"Ah-ha, see the guy with the hat over his face in the rocking chair?" Monta peered through the crowd, eyes following the direction Sena was pointing in. "Yeah, what about him?" "He's the quarterback and he throws the ball in this really weird way that I've never seen before, but it's really quick, and you see the guy standing beside him?" "That really stern looking guy?" "He's an amazing receiver, I've never seen anyone follow a route so precisely before."

Monta turned to look at him oddly. "Route?" "... You'll find out what it is soon enough."

Sena's eyes roamed over the Seibu players in search of Riku. 'Why isn't he here yet?'

"I told you before, that kid's notorious for being late." Hiruma said from behind him. "So stop wasting your time looking for him and get to the sidelines with everyone else." "But Riku seemed like he was so eager to play today, he wanted me to see how his running's improved." Sena commented as he walked closer to the field, Hiruma scoffed.

"He's over-eager to show off, that's the problem." "What's that supposed to mean?" Sena looked over his shoulder, half expecting the blonde to already be flipping through a Devil's Handbook, the answer already forming on his lips.

He surprisingly wasn't, he was just standing there chewing his sugar-free as if Sena hadn't asked anything.

He blew a bubble thoughtlessly, eyes locking on Seibu's quarterback for several long seconds before he turned his attention back to Sena.

"I'm not always going to give you the answers Sena, especially when you can just ask someone else and they'd be more then happy to tell you. Honestly, you've got to learn to be a bit more independent."

"Hey, I am plenty independent!" Sena argued. "Just because I have a bunch of people looking out for me doesn't mean I depend on them, what do you expect me to do, tell them I'm not just helping out on the sidelines, I play too and I'm absolutely fine with it?"

"Well, that's a start." Hiruma said calmly and Sena gaped at him.

"But you-! I don't-! Oh never mind, I realize that I'm going to have to tell them sooner or later, I don't want to hide behind the eyeshield forever, especially when we eventually go up against a team with another Eyeshield 21 and it becomes clear that you've completely lied about my origins." Sena rubbed at his temples and sighed. "But I figure by the time we go up against one of those teams we'll have had a full summer of training and I'll be able to, I don't know, make this lie you've been weaving into a reality by becoming the best. I may be a fake or a copy cat to some, but if I become better than the original no one will bother complaining about it right?" Sena threw a look over at Hiruma who was grinning victoriously.

"And if you can prove yourself to the people who will think you're a fake, you can assure your bothersome elder sibling figures that you're stronger then they think you are."

"But really, the original Eyeshield 21 must be amazing, I can't help but wonder if I'd be able to beat him after just this one summer of training." Sena made it to the sidelines where everyone else had gathered, eyes glued to the field as the game began.

"It's not just one summer though, you've got years of training under your belt, you just don't include it in the grand scheme of things because you weren't specifically training for football at that time. One more summer is all you'll need to unlock your potential, fucking shrimp."

Hiruma stood up a bit straighter, gazing at the field cooly. "This game is gonna be a tough one." He predicted. "The Golden Generation has graduated, will the current White Knights be able to defend against an offence based team like the Wild Gunmen?"

Sena looked towards the field confidently. "The White Knights will prevail." "That's what you think eh? Well we're about to find out."

The game was not moving how Sena had expected it to _at all_, he knew Seibu was a strong team and everything, but Oujou's defense was always something that had seemed almost impenetrable unless you were somehow able to outrun Shin and not many people were able to do that. But by half-time Seibu was leading 20 to 7.

Hiruma seemed very _unsurprised_ about the whole ordeal and his eyes kept straying to Seibu's quarterback even when he didn't have the ball.

'I'm starting to think Hiruma-san knows something about this team that I don't, or at least he knows something about that quarterback.'

Hiruma had taken out his laptop and was going over Tetsuma's stats.

"He does the 40 yard dash in five seconds, he bench presses 115 KG and once he's given a route to follow he doesn't stay from his path, no matter what gets in his way." Hiruma took out a file folder he had stashed away and opened it up.

"What do you mean by route?" Monta asked curiously before Hiruma shoved a paper he had taken from the file into the receivers' hand.

"These are routes the receivers run so that the quarterback knows where to throw the ball, you're all going to memorize these routes."

Monta took a good look at the sheet he was holding, "AACK!"

"You don't have to memorize them all, just learn two or three runs and practice them." Kurita assured them as Hiruma gave everyone their own sheet.

"But someone like Eyeshield, he'd know all of them right?" Yukimitsu questioned and Hiruma cackled. "Of course, he is from Notre Dame after all." "Indeed. All right, I'll do my best."

Sena looked at his own sheet in despair. 'I only know a couple of these and Hiruma-san will probably make me run them all next practice just to show off my skills as 'a player from Notre Dame'.' He sighed. 'I guess I've got some studying to do.'

The second half had began, Shin attempting to sack Seibu's quarterback to no avail, 'The Quick-Draw Kid' was able to throw the ball towards Tetsuma before Shin could reach him, resulting in a fourteen yard gain for Seibu.

But then something odd happened and Tetsuma ran off of the field towards the bathroom, the coach following after him in concern.

That was when Oujou's comeback began, without Tetsuma's abilities Seibu was unable to score anymore points and the game ended in Oujou's favor, 21 to 20.

"If Tetsuma-san had stayed in, Seibu probably would have won." Sena said, even though it felt odd to admit such a thing. 'And if Riku and Tetsuma-san were playing, they surely would have won.' "Strong teams like these will be playing in the fall tournament..."

"You mean we have to beat all of them in order to win the championship? The road to becoming a hero is steep." Monta commented and Sena nodded. 'And then after Oujou comes Shinryuji.' He shuddered at the mere thought of playing against the Gods of Kanto.

'But still, I wonder why Riku's always so late?' He thought as everyone began moving to the street, Hiruma calling up Rui to give them a ride back.

While they were waiting a movement caught Sena's attention and he turned to see Shin, duffle bag slung around his arm, apparently set on running back to the school after such a close game. It made Sena want to run up beside him and assure him that even if it was a close game Shin was still amazing in every way and no matter what he'd always be Sena's hero.

But there was no way Sena could ever scrounge up the confidence to do such a thing.

"Hey Sena, what's up?" Monta called and Sena spun around. "Well, uh... I was thinking that maybe for afternoon practice I'd run back."

"Hoho." Hiruma laughed in a decisively knowing fashion before waving Rui and his teammates, who had only just arrived, away.

"Yeah, awesome idea!" Monta agreed. "Watching a game like that gets you pumped up doesn't it?"

They ended up running passing routes all the way back to Deimon before Hiruma decided that it was enough practice for the day.

During his walk home Sena had taken out his cell phone, vaguely wondering if he should call Riku up and get to the bottom of his problem with being constantly late.

'But maybe it would be better for me to ask him in person, talking over the phone seems a bit more impersonal than usual when you haven't even seen the other person for a while. Maybe I'll go over to Seibu tomorrow after practice and see if he's still around.' He moved to put the phone away, only to have it start ringing.

He brought it up to his ear. "Hello?"

"Sena! Something amazing's just happened!" Juri practically shouted from the other end and Sena held the phone a little further away from his ear.

"Julie-neechan, what happened?" He asked curiously, Juri didn't usually get so excited.

'Did Kotarou-san stop describing things as being 'smart' or something?'

"It's Akaba-kun, he's transferred back to Bando!"


	36. Chapter 36

FASH: Well, tomorrow is Friday the Thirteenth... Yay... Time to go to bed.

""-speech

''-thoughts

That night Sena stared up at his ceiling, unable to sleep.

Akaba was back at Bando, apparently he had decided to come back not even two days after being part of Teikoku, as soon as he saw that most of the Bando players had transferred as well he decided to reverse his decision out of loyalty to his teammates, it had taken him a while to get everything in order to transfer back, but the main thing was that he was back.

Even if he wouldn't be able to play for six months due to his school's transfer policy.

'That means that the Tokyo Fall Tournament will be almost over by the time he can play again. I hope Kotarou-san manages to lead the team to victory in their first games.' But that should be easy for him right, because as long as the kicking team knew that Akaba was back, they'd try a bit harder, right?

He rolled onto his side, no longer interested in staring at the ceiling. 'The Teikoku Alexanders, the team that's won every Christmas Bowl since it's founding, and another team with an Eyeshield 21, possibly the original one.' He sighed and clenched his eyes shut, wishing sleep would take over.

'The original Eyeshield 21...'

He woke up in an oddly sour mood that morning due to his lack of a good night's sleep and his crankiness extended well into the afternoon, only brightening up when he realized that soon enough he'd be able to loose himself in practice.

'I can't keep worrying about the other Eyeshields, I already told Hiruma-san that I'm going to make his lie a reality, so all I need to worry about is practice.' He nodded to himself as he made his way to the clubhouse after school. 'All I have to worry about is becoming the best.'

The threw himself into his training with more vigor than usual, running all out while dragging several tires behind him.

"Oi, everyone listen up!" Hiruma commanded as he flipped one of his cell phones shut from the sidelines.

"Tomorrow morning we're going to start some basic training, I've just taken care of all the preparations we need."

Immediately several people groaned. "Why do we have to do morning practice too?"

"Shut up you damn whiners! I want you all here at five sharp, so we're cutting afternoon practice short today. Get pack up, get home and get some rest because _I assure you _you're going to need all the rest you can get."

Sena perked up, even though he had been so into his training just moments ago, the lack of sleep seemed to be giving him mood swings. 'Maybe that means by the time I'll get to Seibu Riku will still be around.' He wasn't sure how long the other team practiced for, but he assumed that they'd still keep practicing a couple hours after school even after the spring tournament to get more prepared for the fall tournament just like all the other teams.

So, with a strange sense of anticipation Sena changed out of his football uniform and took his time getting to the other school.

When he did arrive at Seibu he took a cautious step onto the property that seemed pretty much deserted. 'Maybe their afternoon practices are done now? But Riku still had to run extra laps after practice the last time he was late, so he might still be around.' He snuck around to the back of the school, keeping a constant look out for anyone who was still around and would know he probably _wasn't exactly _allowed on school grounds.

He let out a sigh of relief when he caught sight of Riku in his football uniform standing near the field alone, everyone else apparently having gone home for that night.

"Riku!" He called out as he walked forward and the fair haired boy turned to look at him in apparent shock.

"Sena, what are you doing all the way over here?" "Well, you said you wanted to hang out sometime right? Or is now not a good time?" Sena threw a quick look in both direction, just to make sure there were no other Seibu players still practicing.

"Now's fine, I just finished up my punishment laps..." Riku stared down at his feet, oddly introverted compared to his usual self.

"Did you go and see the game?" "Yeah, I thought it was kind of strange that you weren't there, since you had seemed so eager to let me see how much your running's improved. Why are you always so late?"

"Sometimes before games I'll gather up all the information and video recordings I can on the opposing team and the night before I'll memorize it all so that the knowledge doesn't have time to fade." He awkwardly lifted his eyes up to meet Sena's. "Sometimes I can get up on time, sometimes I can't. I've never had it happen to me two games in a row though, the coach got pretty angry with me. He said we could have won if I had been there." His eyes narrowed ever so slightly.

"What do you think Sena? If I had been there, would I have been able to get past Shin?"

Sena bit his lip nervously before cautiously answering. "Maybe." "Maybe?" "Well, I still haven't seen how much your running has improved."

Riku smirked lightly. "Let me show you then." But instead of moving into a solid starting stance he turned around.

"But first I'll change out of this uniform, then we can have a race and see if you've improved too." Sena smiled widely. "Want to check out how your pupil's been doing?" "Of course." Riku replied calmly before striding away.

'I think you'll find I've improved more than you expected.'

Ten minutes later found them just outside the front gates of Seibu, ready to race around the block.

"Are you sure I won't have an unfair advantage? You were running laps until just a while ago." Sena asked teasingly and Riku cocked an eyebrow at him.

"I highly doubt that little workout would effect my running ability." "Well, we'll see about that won't we?"

They shifted their feet apart. "Ready... Go!"

They started off, neither bothering to go full speed at the very beginning in order to make sure they could keep track of the other runner from the corner of their eyes, but slowly Riku began picking up the pace, Sena's speed changing to match his without having to think about it until they were both going all out.

They had almost reached their pre-determined finish line when Riku asked if he'd like to go around one more time.

Who was Sena to refuse him?

It was oddly invigorating, going up against the person who had taught him how to run and matching his pace for the most part, Riku was beginning to inch ahead of him, reaching the school gate a fraction of a second before him before slowing down his pace.

'Riku's gotten even more amazing.' Because despite what Riku had said about his laps not hindering his running he had been doing training since right after school while Sena had a bit of time to recover after his own practice.

"Seibu, if you were there, they would have won." Sena admitted, although saying it out loud made him just a little horrible. "Your speed is amazing Riku."

"You weren't too bad yourself. Maybe instead of being a manager you should become a player?" "Who me? No, I really wasn't built for that type of thing."

"Oh? Then I suppose that means I wasn't built for it either?" Riku crossed his arms, frowning playfully.

"You know I didn't mean it like that Riku, I'm just, you know, to weak for it." Sena explained, eyes averted.

"That doesn't matter if you're fast enough to keep from getting tackled. You should play the game a little, you'd make a good running back."

The brunette smiled widely. 'At least Riku doesn't seem like he'd be overly concerned if he found out I was playing.' "I think I just might do that."

The walked together for a little longer, avoiding any further conversations about football until Sena, with a despairing sigh, informed Riku he'd have to getting home soon.

They said their goodbyes and Sena went straight home, quickly eater his supper before leaping into bed, sleeping coming much easier than the previous night. And the next morning he made it to school right on time, something he was personally quite proud of since he'd never dragged himself out of bed so early before.

But now was no time to be feeling proud of himself just because he'd managed to get to practice on time, because, considering the construction that was currently going on beside their clubhouse, he had the feeling he should be more concerned about what this basic training was going to consist of.

"What do you think's going on with this?" Monta asked from beside him, but Sena didn't have the time to answer before Hiruma popped up beside them.

"It's getting a bit crowded in there now that we've got more people, so I'm extending the locker room. The principal promised us 'one extension per victory'. This is for beating Zokugaku."

'I wonder how he got the principal to agree to that.'

"And now that you're here, all hands on deck. Get to work!"

"WHAT?" The team asked incredulously in unison.

"Construction work will be perfect for drills! It's basic strength training!" Hiruma explained as he tossed everyone a pair of work clothes. "Now hurry up and change."


	37. Chapter 37

FASH: Man, I hate working in the summer, it gets way too hot. And now that I'm done with my complaining...

""-speech

''-thoughts

Basic training was turning out to be a lot harder then Sena thought it would be, he and Monta had been moving around bags of cement for the better part of an hour and his arms were already beginning to ache, unused to lifting anything heavy. Not to mention it was a lot harder to concentrate when he'd see Hiruma and Musashi talking out of the corner of his eye.

'Seeing him in the flesh is making me doubt his age all over again.' Really, was it truly possible for someone who was only seventeen to have a face like that?

"Sena! What do you keep lookin' over there for?" Monta asked, peering over Sena's shoulder curiously.

"Oh nothing, let's just back to our training." Sena hefted a bag of cement over her shoulder, Monta doing likewise, passing Juumonji who was carrying a whopping four bags.

Sena looked at him out of the corner of his eye incredulously. "The basics are pretty tough." He commented as they set down their bags and began helping Mamori and Yukimitsu mix concrete.

"I suppose, but I'd really rather be working on my super catch plays." "Don't say that Monta, the basics are important. You've got to learn how to walk before you can run."

Monta didn't seem very convinced by his explanation though and he heaved a heavy sigh.

"What are you getting them to mix concrete for? Can't we just have a block foundation?" Hiruma asked Musashi, well withing hearing range.

"If you don't lay down a good foundation the whole thing will fall apart." Musashi answered and Monta stilled, listening to the conversation a bit closer.

"We're not planning to use the building for decades or anything." "But you're going to use it through to the end of this year right?" "Of course."

Sena had the odd feeling that Hiruma had started up this conversation to help Monta see his point, not that he had any proof mind you, it just seemed a little too perfect to be a mere coincidence.

"In order to build something that will remain standing until the end, you have to start with a strong and solid foundation."

Monta glanced at him wordlessly before getting back to work, a little more energetic than he had been a minute before.

The rest of the basic training for the day went by rather quickly and soon enough Hiruma was ordering them to get cleaned up.

"There's no practice after school today." He said in an almost threatening fashion. "But tomorrow you'll be doing this and regular practice, so you'd better be prepared for it."

'I wonder if any one of us will be able to survive tomorrow?' Sena couldn't help but think as he made his way into the clubhouse and slowly changed out of his uniform, his arms feeling a little sore after all the heavy lifting he'd gone through. 'That's going to end up being around six hours of training all together.'

On his way back to the main school building he passed by Musashi and Hiruma, the broader of the two gave him a small wave, which really looked more like a casual flicking of the wrist or some sort of informal salute.

"See ya tomorrow morning kid." He said gruffly and Sena gave a small wave back.

"See you then, Musashi-sa-" Sena clapped a hand over his mouth, but Takekura had already heard what he'd been called, and if Hiruma's twitching ears were any indication, so did he.

"Well, that name brings back memories." He said as he brought a cigarette up to his lips, seemingly unconcerned.

Hiruma's reaction was a whole other story.

"What the hell?! Who told you the fucking old man here is Musashi?" He demanded, whipping out a submachine gun and pointing it directly at Sena who flinched and took several quick steps backwards.

"Cool your jets, it doesn't really matter that he knows. Besides, he _could_ have gotten the information from anyone who was at Deimon last year, but I think you and I both know who'd be the most likely to tell him." He said calmly, exhaling a steady stream of smoke.

"That fucking manager." Hiruma grumbled under his breath as he put his submachine gun away, although he was still throwing a pointed glare in Sena's direction.

"Hurry up an get to class, you'll be late." He barked and Sena was quick to comply, zipping away from the irritated quarterback.

'I suppose I'll have to put asking why Musashi-san doesn't go to Deimon anymore on hold.' Because no matter how fast he was he wouldn't be able to dodge a bullet shot at point blank range if Hiruma got angry enough at him, and right now it seemed like if he mentioned anything about Musashi again the chances of that happening weren't leaning in his favor.

He could probably ask Mamori, she'd most likely know and would never keep any information away from him if he asked her directly, but he just knew that if he ended up knowing more then he should about this situation Mamori and Hiruma would end up arguing and he already saw them face off enough already.

He heaved a sigh as he entered the classroom, glancing at Juumonji, Kuroki and Toganou, all of them seemed rather unaffected by the training they'd just gone though.

'Lucky guys, I feel like my arms are going to fall off.'

The second morning of their practice/construction work/slave labor was more hellish then the first, Sena's arms ached from carrying the bags of cement the previous day and it almost felt like he had pulled something in around his shoulder. And then there was the Huh Huh Brothers, casually carrying around things that Sena didn't think he'd be able to budge.

He didn't even want to think of what would happen if he tried to carry around whatever Komusubi and Kurita were, he'd probably be crushed under the weight and end up a pancake.

And leave it to his luck for things to go from bad to worse.

Of course, under a more normal situation he might have been a bit happier to see _Agon_ of all people strolling over in his general direction, but at the moment Hiruma was standing within his field of vision and it was like he could already feel the very air around him tensing as the two exchanged glares.

He really hoped Agon hadn't come for the specific reason to fight with the quarterback because Sena sure as hell wasn't strong to hold either of them back so they couldn't kill the other if the mood struck them.

"Che, what's with this lame ass training?" Agon asked rather loudly as he stopped walking to stand in front of Sena , one hand pulling down his glasses slightly so he was looking at him over the rims before his eyes flicked over to Hiruma.

Sena could practically feel Hiruma's glare hardening as the blonde came to stand beside him and in an attempt to keep the peace he replied rather nervously, because who wouldn't be nervous when two rather scary people are having a glaring match above your head?:

"We're doing some basic training right now, and since we're on the topic of training, shouldn't you be doing something along those lines?"

Sena became vaguely aware that Monta and Mamori were walking over and he blanched a bit when Agon gave Mamori a quick once-over.

"I thought I'd drop by since I was in the neighborhood, I've been a bit curious about how this trash makes you train."

Sena let out a nervous laugh, as if there was some sort of inside joke going on so that no one would feel like getting offended for Hiruma's sake and he moved forward, bringing up his arms, which felt like they were made of lead. and gently pushing Agon away, extremely happy that the older boy was going with the flow and allowed himself to be lead away from the construction site without much hassle.

"What the fuck kind of basic training is that?" Agon asks, thankfully after he'd been lead out of hearing distance. "Is that the best he can come up with?"

"Agon-san, there's no need to be rude. Besides, if you want to make it to school on time you should probably be leaving now. Why are you way over here so early in the morning anyways?"

"I told you, I was in the neighborhood and I was curious to see what kind of training that trash was putting you through." Agon said simply, taking off his sunglasses and cleaning the lenses with the material of his shirt.

"Alright, but why were you in the neighborhood this early in the morning?"

Agon put his sunglasses back on before answering. "I stayed at a girl's house last night, she lives around here."

Sena stared at him for a full five seconds, eyes widening and blush spreading to the very tips of his ears before can even manage to ask. "Wh-what were you doing?"

"What the hell do you think we were doing, playing scrabble? We were obviously-"

"Stop! I don't need to hear the rest of that sentence." Sena covered his ears and shook his head repeatedly, as if doing so would make him forget what Agon had been saying.

"I've got to get back to practice and you'd better go straight to school, Unsui-san and your mother are probably worried sick about you." 'Unless this is a normal thing for you.' Sena added as an afterthought, he really hoped that wasn't true.

"Fine fine, I'm going already." Agon replied as he turned, he seemed awfully smug for some reason, probably amused at the younger boy's reaction.

The rest of morning practice was spent ignoring the curious looks sent his way and attempting to ignore the somewhat awesome displays of strength happening right before his eyes.

'I just hope the practice after school doesn't involve any heavy lifting of any sort.' Because he was currently way out of his element. 'Well, Hiruma-san's been having us memorizing the passing routes, so I should be fine during afternoon practice.'

Even if he was probably going to feel sore all over before practice even began.


	38. Chapter 38

FASH: Heh heh heh... Some fun stuff is gonna happen next chapter, you'll see what I mean. (Grins.) It was sort of inspired by a review, because I thought it would be fun.

""-speech

''-thoughts

Over the last several days Sena had become painstakingly aware of his lack of strength and muscle mass, even Monta and Mamori were able to lift more weight then he was, but he tried not to let it get to him.

Hiruma had been in an awfully sour mood as of late too, which Sena rightfully assumed had been triggered by Agon's abrupt appearance at practice several days before. A normal Hiruma was hard enough to deal with, you already had to walk on eggshells around him to make sure he never felt like shooting at you.

If you managed to piss off a moody Hiruma, well, it was like playing Russian Roulette with a fully loaded gun. No chances of survival.

Which was why everyone wisely decided to give the quarterback lots of room and follow his orders exactly, even Mamori wasn't picking any fights with him in order to stave off the imminent doom.

It was with a great sense of relief that he made his way to Bando after practice one night, it would be nice to spend some quality time with people when none of them felt like they'd be pumped full of lead if they talked to each other a little too long.

'I need some normal conversations. It's hard to talk about anything when Hiruma-san looms over you, practically breathing down your neck.'

Juri was, of course, more then happy to greet him and gave him a non-too gentle, but affectionate, pat on the back, which had been strained due to Sena's bad habit of not lifting with his knees.

Needless to say, the results were rather disastrous.

"Ow, ow, _ow_-" Sena chanted under his breath, rocking slightly as Juri stepped closer. "God Sena, are you alright?"

Kotarou, who had been standing near the sidelines in order to better ignore the wrap-up lecture Akaba seemed to be giving the rest of the team after practice, strode over in their direction as he flicked his comb through his hair.

"Julie, what did you do?" He asked suspiciously and Juri frowned.

"What's that supposed to mean? You know I'd never hit Sena hard enough to actually hurt, I just gave him a little love tap."

Sena straightened out and reached into his bag for the bottle of pain-killers he'd started to carry around on a daily basis.

Juri's eyes narrowed at the bottle and her lips pursed together as Sena calmly dry-swallowed a tablet.

"Sena, come with me. Kotarou, stay put." She ordered as she began walking away from the field.

Kotarou scoffed and ran his comb through his hair several more times. "As if I'd bother following you, che, not smart."

"Sena, you know you can tell me anything, right?" Juri asked lowly as the reached a 'safe' distance from everyone else and Sena, who had the feeling that he already knew where this was going, nodded.

"So you would tell me if Hiruma-kun was bullying you, right? I know you say you're fine, but I've heard stuff about him from Mamori-chan and none of it sounds very good, are you sure he isn't tormenting you but you're just too kind-hearted to realize it? Physically? Emotionally? Mentally? Sexually?"

"What?! No! I'm just a bit sore because I've been joining in on the basic training Hiruma-san's been putting the team through, he isn't tormenting me in _any_ of the ways you mentioned." 'On purpose.' He mentally added, because he was pretty sure Hiruma didn't realize how terrifying it was to be around him when he was being moody.

"Why are you joining in on the training though? If you're not careful you'll get really hurt."

"Mamori-neechan was doing it too, and it's not like I'm even doing all that much." Sena explained but Juri stubbornly crossed her arms.

"You're not doing much, but you've taken to carrying around painkillers with you? Clearly it's too much for you, so, as you're second older sister figure I demand that you stop doing this 'basic training', it's not like you need it anyways." She very carefully wrapped an arm around him in a half hug and began leading him back to where Kotarou was standing, the look on her face told Sena that this conversation was clearly closed and he didn't have the heart to protest.

Akaba's 'lecture' had finished and the team was beginning to walk towards their clubroom as the redheaded boy moved to stand beside Kotarou, who did little to acknowledge his presence other then flick a rather tame glare in his direction.

"Hello Akaba-san, welcome back." Sena greeted politely.

"Fuu. Good evening Sena-kun, it's good to be back."Akaba replied with his usual grandeur, Sena was half-surprised that the older boy hadn't pulled his guitar out and started strumming yet.

'At least things are back to normal again at Bando, I hope Hiruma-san gets back to normal soon, I don't know how much longer any of us can handle his current mood.'

Thankfully Hiruma's mood seemed to have improved _slightly_ the next day, if only because they were finally getting around to making the finishing touches on the clubhouse. Mamori had already begun to sort out the towels and stuff they were going to have stored in the locker room.

"Now that we have so much space we can get everything in order." She sighed happily at the thought of not having to search through piles of equipment and jerseys to find the binders of information on other teams. And speaking of those jerseys...

"Sena, if you're not busy with something else this afternoon could you help me do some laundry, these uniforms haven't been washed in only God knows how long." She hefted them up and set them down on a table when she spied a magazine underneath.

"Kurita-kun, this is the volume of Football Monthly that you've been looking for right?" She held it up and waved it around slightly before handing it to him. "No wonder you couldn't find it."

"Yeah, I haven't read this month's issue yet." Kurita said as he leafed through it, Komusubi staring at it from his place at Kurita's shoulder.

"The Football Monthly Bowl? Wow, someone's going to get to play against an American high school!" He exclaimed. "It's gonna happen in two weeks, right in the middle of the Kantou Tournament!"

"Someone who couldn't even make it to the finals, challenging an American team?" Monta muttered and Sena replied uneasily. "I'm sure no one's that crazy."

"I already sent in our application." Hiruma said as he calmly shrugged on his blazer, throwing them a look that _dared _them to say something about it.

No one did.

"Oh, and the fucking shrimp's not going to be able to help you with the laundry."

"Why not? He doesn't have anything else to do." Mamori stubbornly declared, standing her ground efficiently even as Hiruma's glare intensified.

"Who ever said he didn't have anything else to do? I've got something very important that I need him to check out for me."

"Are you making him go all alone?" She brought her hands up to rest on her hips.

"It's something that needs to be done alone, fucking manager." Hiruma responded hotly before turning to walk out of the clubhouse. "Follow me fucking shrimp, I'll tell you about it on your way to class."

"O-okay." Sena quickly, albeit reluctantly, followed Hiruma out the door, smiling a bit at Monta's hushed whisper of: "Secret mission _max_."

They had almost made it to the front doors of the school when Hiruma's pace slowed down dramatically and Sena changed his own pace to match.

"Hiruma-san, am I really going to check something out for you or is it just an excuse so that Mamori-neechan doesn't wonder where I am during practice?"

"I have something I need you to look into for me. I would go myself but I'm busy training you backfielders and my network in that area isn't as strong so I've only heard bits and pieces about what I'm sending you in to check."

"Am I going to be... Spying on a team?" Sena asked nervously and he stopped walking forward. "Because I'm pretty sure I'm not spy material."

"Then don't think of it as 'spying' think of it as 'observing in order to be better prepared' or something like that. In any case, apparently this team's got some impressive new recruits so I want to start gathering info on them before they realize they should be keeping their secret weapons under wraps. They've got a practice match today at their school, it's the perfect opportunity."

"I see." 'Although I still think this sort of thing is definitely not my cup of tea.' "Which team is it?"

"The Hakushu Dinosaurs."

"Really? I don't think I've heard of them..." Sena rubbed at his chin thoughtfully. 'Dinosaurs?'

"I didn't think you'd know them anyways, they're from the SIC District." Hiruma replied calmly and Sena blanched.

"They're not from Tokyo? Why am I going to spy on them then?"

"Idiot, we might end up facing them later on in the Kanto Tournament and it'll be easier for you to get information on them now when they don't know you're part of Deimon."

"But won't I stick out in my Deimon uniform?" Sena gestured to the green blazer. "Especially if you expect me to tape the game or take pictures, I don't want people to gang up on me because I'm spying."

"Don't worry, I've got that covered." Hiruma replied with a smirk before handing Sena an envelope.

"Inside here is a note that will 'excuse' you from your last period class of the day, a train ticket home and back and directions to the school from the station. You should be able to make it to Hakushu well before the game starts, but you might want to take some pictures of their warms ups too."

Sena looked at the envelope, slightly fearful. His last period class was history. 'Does this mean Hiruma-san has blackmail on my history teacher?'

"Once you get out of class head to the clubroom, I'll put a change of clothes and a camera in your locker."

"Change of clothes?! Don't tell me you actually took clothing_ from my room _for today."

"Relax, I went out and got you something else that we can just burn afterwards to destroy the evidence. Cheap material, highly flammable." He remarked with a grin and Sena just nodded, wondering if he should be afraid.

"Well, I'll just get going to class then..."

The day passed by far too quickly for Sena's liking, who was sure that he was going to be found out no matter what and then the 'impressive new recruits' were going to murder him, because really, an outfit that Hiruma picked out for him? Wouldn't that only make him stand out more?

But Hiruma's mood had brightened a bit at the prospect at getting some new information and he definitely didn't want him to go back to his moodiness, so he dutifully excused himself from his last period class, ignoring the way his history teacher's face paled as he handed her the letter and the curious looks his classmates were giving him on the way out.

'Alright, it's now or never.' He thought as he stood in front of his locker in the clubroom, looking at duffle bag sitting at the bottom with no small amount of curiosity.

He slowly pulled it out and opened it up, carefully setting the digital camera to the side before pulling out the first piece of clothing.

"... You have _got _to be kidding me."


	39. Chapter 39

FASH: I loved writing this chapter, it was fun.

""-speech

''-thoughts

There was no doubt, absolutely no doubt in his mind that Hiruma had somehow found out about Juri's dress up game years ago.

Either that, or Hiruma had a pretty twisted sense of humor.

He was holding up what could only be a skirt no matter how he looked at it. It kind of made him wary about what else was stowed away in the duffle bag.

'It's either this, or going in my school uniform.' And although he hated admitting it, he'd probably not be found out if he pretended to be a girl there to take pictures of her 'unapproachable crush' or something along those lines.

With a heavy sigh Sena reached into the bag and pulled the next article of clothing out.

Ten minutes later Sena looked down at himself with a frown.

He had on a pair of dressy black shoes, followed by white knee high socks, then came the skirt which was a deep green that ended several inches above his knees, and then a matching well fitted tee-shirt which would have blatantly showed his lack of a chest to the world if it weren't for the small, padded bra he was wearing.

'Oh God, I'm wearing a bra.' If anyone ever found out about this he was going to be proclaimed a pervert and become an outcast.

The finishing touches to the outfit were a black sleeveless vest that only extended two inches under his 'chest' and a black cap that had several inches of hopefully fake hair sewn into it to add to the length of his actual hair.

Hiruma had even thrown some cosmetics in the bag, but Sena absolutely refused to touch them.

All in all he looked like a girl, and he hated it.

'How many times in my life am I going to have to go through this?' He inwardly cried as he took his school bag and emptied out his textbooks and notebooks into the duffle bag, which he shoved back into his locker before putting the camera, tickets and directions inside and setting off.

'I think I would have rather practiced today.'

He arrived at Hakushu a couple minutes after school was let out and he easily followed the sound of excited chatter to the football field.

'Huh, fancy that.' Even if he wasn't wearing the school uniform he appeared to be wearing the team's colours, judging by the small, stripped flags a couple girls were waving.

'I guess this outfit isn't so far fetched after all. Although wouldn't it have been easier for Hiruma-san to nab me a male Hakushu uniform?' But now wasn't the time to think of such things, the opposing team was beginning to arrive.

'I wonder if Hiruma-san wanted me to take any pictures of the other team too?' He hadn't said anything, but surely it would be better to be safe then sorry.

He reached into his bag to take out the camera when he was roughly pushed from behind. He stumbled towards the field before catching himself and he turned around nervously, fearful that his disguise had been seen through.

There was a small group of girls, probably third years, standing behind him wearing the Hakushu uniform, frowns marring their otherwise very pretty features.

"Hey, I haven't seen you around at the games before, what's with the get-up? Trying to steal Marco-kun's attention away?" The apparent self proclaimed leader asked as she tucked a stray lock of long auburn hair behind her ear.

"Uh, no?" Sena wisely replied in a voice a few pitches higher than his normal one, not wanting to get in a scuffle with a bunch of girls.

One of the other girls snorted. "Let's go Rin-chan, a girl like her couldn't catch Marco-kun's eye anyways, Himuro-san is way better than she is."

They turned and strutted away, perfectly styled hair bouncing and swaying with every step.

'I'm glad this outfit isn't very flashy.' Because he had no idea how he'd deal with a group of females who thought he was trying to make a play for their man.

'Who is this 'Marco-kun' anyways? Is he one of the players?'

He backed away from the field and carefully looked around as he took out his camera, wary of any other girls who thought his colour coordinated outfit was some sort of strategy to catch someone's attention.

'Although I guess if people think I'm here as a fangirl, like with Sakuraba-san, no one will care if a snap a couple dozen pictures.'

The Hakushu players were starting to come onto the field and Sena kept his eyes peeled for anyone who seemed like a hot new recruit, no one really stood out.

Until a giant appeared.

'Good God, I hope that's not a first year.' Sena took an unconscious step back and his grip on the camera tightened. 'Against someone that huge, would Kurita-san even have a chance?' He couldn't seem to tear his eyes away from the number 70 player as he sat down on the bench, only snapping back to reality when he heard cheering.

The practice game had begun.

From what he could see as he paced around the sidelines looking for good angles to take shots the Dinosaurs had a very aggressive play style and their defense seemed to be wearing their opponent out.

But throughout the whole game the giant never left the bench, and Sena couldn't help but wonder how much his participation would have effected the game.

By the time the game ended in the Dinosaurs' favor and the student spectators began to leave he still couldn't seem to tear his eyes away from number 70's sheer size.

'He must be at least three times bigger than I am.'

Then he felt someone practically breathing down his neck. Scared that it was the girls from before he spun around and took a step back.

'Oh.' He sighed in relief. 'It's just a guy.'

"Hey, I haven't seen you around here before, are you a first year?" He asked smoothly and Sena quickly nodded.

"You a big fan of our school's football team? If you want I could introduce you to some of the players, I'm buddies with some of the third years on the team." He wove an arm around Sena's shoulder, a little too friendly.

"Uh," Sena began in his girl voice. "I'd actually better get go-" He stopped abruptly when he felt a cold liquid splash onto his front.

The hand of the arm that was wrapped around him had been holding a nearly full bottle of soda, now it was around half empty.

"Oops, my hand slipped." He said in a sleazy sort of way that reminded Sena of Mamoru. "Why don't we-"

"Hey, back off." A new voice ordered and Sena turned to look at the person who intervened thankfully.

'Ah, I believe that's the Dinosaurs' manager.'

The creep muttered several choice words under his breath before retracting his hand and walking away.

"Are you alright?" Maruko asked in concern and Sena nodded.

"Yes, thank you so much, I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't helped." He replied truthfully, voice cracking a couple times because of his pitch, inwardly curing his lack of strength.

"Your shirt, that jerk spilt soda all over it. Come with me, we'll get you cleaned up in a bit." She grabbed onto his hand and Sena really had no choice but to follow her. Even if it meant going into the girl's washroom.

"What's your name?" The girl asked conversationally as she rinsed out her handkerchief.

"Kobayakawa Sena." He replied out of reflex, wondering afterwards if he should have given out a fake name in case they met each other again during the fall when he was back to normal.

"I'm Himuro Maruko, if that guy ever bothers you again, just tell him that I'm looking out for you." She handed Sena some paper towels to dry himself off with a smile.

'She's really nice.' "Thanks, I'll be sure to do that."

When Sena's shirt was finally clean and dry he bid Maruko farewell and began his solitary trek to the train station, passing by a couple kids playing with a basketball on the sidewalk in front of their house.

After a failed attempt at catching, it rolled onto the street and one of the kids dashed into the road to get it just as a truck came speeding around the corner. The driver dodged the child, but kept on speeding towards the stop sign, where several people were crossing the street while yelling at the child to look both ways before crossing.

Sena reacted instantaneously and dashed towards the person at the front of the group, who had turned upon hearing the commotion and became like a deer in headlights.

Sena crashed into him, not unlike the way he'd crashed into Sakuraba, which caused them both to fly a couple feet back, but at least they were out of the truck's way.

"Are you alright?" He asked nervously in his girl voice and bright, icy-blue eyes blinked up at him.

'Isn't he one of the players?' He seemed kind of familiar although he couldn't quite remember what position he'd played.

"I'm doing rather well, I'd say." He turned his head slightly. "How are you doing over there Gaou?"

The was a low growl in response and Sena turned to follow Marco's gaze and his mouth promptly fell open.

Gaou had stopped the truck with one hand.

One. Fucking. Hand.

'S-scary.'

There was a muffled cough and Sena's eyes shifted to see a rather beautiful boy make a vague gesture at him and then throw him a pointed look that didn't seem to be directed at him but rather...

Underneath him, where Marco was still situated.

"Oh gosh! I'm so sorry!" He quickly scrambled up and offered a hand to him, the strap of his bag sliding down his arm.

The blue eyed boy lifted himself off of the ground and calmly ignored the ruckus that was beginning to happen behind him, the truck driver had climbed out and seemed confused as to whether he should stare at his truck, stare at Gaou or yell. He settled for all three.

Meanwhile Sena opened his bag fearfully, it had landed partially under him and he had some _fairly important _stuff in there.

His cell phone seemed fine, but the camera...

"Oh God." He pulled out the crushed camera with no small amount of dread. "Hiruma-san... He's going to kill me."

All the pictures he'd taken, gone, and he could hardly remember the game, just the Dinosaurs' playing style and staring at Gaou.

"I'm going to die." He said hysterically, Hiruma was going to be in an even worse mood from now on!

Two hands planted themselves firmly on his shoulders and Sena looked up into Marco's eyes.

"I could replace it as thanks since you went out of your way to save me. Although it's a bit embarrassing to have been saved by a cute girl, it usually seems to be the other way around, I'd say."

'Cute?' "Oh, I couldn't let you do that." 'The pictures were more important than the camera anyways.' "I'll figure out how to explain this, you just take care of yourself." He threw one last look over Marco's shoulder to see Gaou, truck driver limp within his grasp, before booking it out of there.

Marco watched Sena go, eyebrows raising delicately as he turned around. "She's rather fast, I'd- Gaou! What have I told you about knocking people unconscious?!"

By the time Sena arrived back at Deimon practice was still going on and he absolutely refused to step on school grounds in fear of someone recognizing him, which really left him no choice but to jog around a bit, since waiting by the gate would leave him too out in the open for comfort.

But he couldn't help but wonder if jogging was such a good idea several minutes later when _Shin_ of all people passed by, paused, and turned around to look at him, shock plastered on his face.

'It just had to be Shin-san didn't it?' Sena sighed into his hand, Shin had already recognized him so there was no point trying to hide it.

'Alright, so how am I supposed to explain this?'


	40. Chapter 40

FASH: Ahhhh, chapter 40, SHIN! My sister keeps on pestering me to write girl!Sena running into Agon. Should I? Should I not?

""-speech

''-thoughts

"Shin-san, this isn't what you think it is." Sena managed to say rather calmly, all things considered and the older boy's eyebrows drew together in confusion.

"It isn't?"

"Oh, it's definitely not. Hiruma-san wanted me to go incognito to watch a practice game you see, so if you could just forget this ever happened and never tell anyone about it, it would be much appreciated." He turned to walk back to the school, conversation closed.

Shin followed.

Sena threw a look over his shoulder and began speeding up, Shin did likewise.

"Wait." "Shin-san, you're not suppose to follow me!" He nearly cried in exasperation and he would have picked up the pace except the shoes he was currently wearing really _were not _made for long periods of running.

He slowed down to a stop and didn't bother turning around to look at Shin. 'God, this is so embarrassing. I would have thought for sure he'd just accept my excuse before getting on with his jog.'

Apparently not.

"Sena-kun, if you were merely disguising yourself in order to watch a practice game, was it really necessary to mask your gender?" Shin seemed honestly confused and Sena couldn't help but think that he was taking this whole situation very well.

"I don't know, you'd have to ask Hiruma-san." He said with a shrug before setting off to towards the school once more, Shin thankfully not following him this time around.

He waited a fair distance away from the school's main gate for ten minutes until he saw his teammates begin to leave school grounds, breaking off into smaller groups as they walked home. When he was sure everyone but Hiruma had left he moved forward, feet dragging as he made his way to the clubhouse.

He was not looking forward to the upcoming confrontation.

He opened the clubhouse doors solemnly and Hiruma threw him a look from where he was seated, legs propped up on a table in front of him.

"So, how did the game go?" "The Dinosaurs won by a fair margin, their playing style is pretty aggressive." Sena took a couple steps forward and shut the door behind him.

'Maybe he won't ask to see the pictures yet, then I can at least stall my imminent doom.'

"Did you see any of their new first year talent in action?"

"I can't say for sure, I-" He paused, unsure if telling the truth would get a bunch of bullets hurled his way or not. "I was focusing on someone on the sidelines during a fair amount of the game. I don't know if he's a first year, but if he is..." Sena almost shuddered at the thought of someone his age being so huge.

"Well, that's pretty much useless. I sent you to check out all of the impressive new recruits, not just one." The blonde held out his hand expectantly. "Give me the camera, I'll look through the photos tonight."

"Uh, I really would love to Hiruma-san, but I'm afraid I can't." Sena nervously shuffled his feet.

"And why the fuck can't you?"

"It broke."

It took Hiruma all of two seconds to react to that. "What the hell do you mean 'it broke'?! It was in perfect condition when I put it together with your stuff!" He pulled out a rifle and Sena was pretty sure the only reason he wasn't shooting was because the clubhouse had _just finished_ being renovated. "What the hell did you do?"

"Well, I sort of fell on it." Sena replied honestly. "But if it makes you feel any better, in the process I-"

"Why the hell would anything make me feel better about you breaking the fucking camera?" Hiruma growled as he stood up and stomped forward until he and Sena were standing nearly toe to toe. "It's a shame really, I had wanted to use you to help infiltrate that magazine's headquarters tomorrow, but I guess if I want a job done well I've got to do it myself when it comes to this sort of thing. It's not like anyone will realize that it's not actually you anyways."

Sena was rapidly becoming lost. "Infiltrate? Magazine headquarters? What did I miss today?"

"It doesn't matter, you'll find out soon anyways. My mission tomorrow is the priority, but that doesn't mean I'm just letting you get away with breaking my camera and losing valuable photos. Apparently the Dinosaurs are going through a big change right now and I wanted to start documenting their growth so we know what sort of rate they're improving at."

Sena looked down at his shoes darkly. 'It's not like I broke it on purpose...'

"Which is why tomorrow you'll be going back to Hakushu."

Sena's eyes snapped up, was he being given a second chance?

"Of course it won't be as easy the next time around, you'll be spying on a regular practice so it's not like you can just try and blend in with throngs of other spectators. If you're not careful you'll get caught very easily."

"Well, that means I can just wear normal clothes tomorrow then right?" Sena asked hopefully, Hiruma had promised to burn the evidence of his disguise after all.

"No, if you get caught they're bound to take it easier on a girl then on a guy." Hiruma smirked darkly and Sena wondered if this was supposed to be some sort of punishment.

'Really, how the hell many times am I going to be forced into girl's clothing during my life?'

"Anyways, just come to morning practice the same time as usual tomorrow, I'll write up another note to get you out of your last period class and hopefully you'll be able to do your job without breaking anything this time." Hiruma set the rifle down and crossed his arms. "I suppose I'd better get you something else to wear for tomorrow. If you show up two days in a row wearing the same thing someone might recognize you from today and figure things out. In the meantime I did say I was going to destroy that evidence..." Hiruma trailed off. "Want to watch?"

Eight minutes later Sena was dressed back in his school uniform and watching as Hiruma set the outfit aflame. Frankly he was never happier to see a pile of clothing burn in his life.

'I just hope Hiruma-san doesn't pick out anything too girly for tomorrow.' Although since dressing up seemed to be more of a punishment than a precaution, Sena really wouldn't put it past him.

He was thankfully proven wrong the next day when upon opening up the duffle bag he pulled out a pair of jeans. Girly, snug jeans, but at least it was a pair of pants.

He quickly changed into the new outfit which also consisted of another padded bra, (Much to Sena's embarrassment and horror, couldn't he just be a flat chested female?) A red tee-shirt and a baseball cap with another several inches of brown hair sewn into the inside.

At least he didn't look too girly today, a bit more on the sporty tomboyish side.

'I just hope I don't run into anyone who'll recognize me today.'

The train ride was rather uneventful and once he got off at the station he sprinted to the other high school, intent on getting there at least several minutes before school was let out so that he could properly conceal himself somewhere. Hiruma had suggested hiding himself in the branches of a tree and had even lent Sena his 'pair of trusty binoculars' that he'd used to spy on Oujou.

Of course climbing a tree while you had a bag full of stuff you were trying not to jostle around too much was a bit difficult, especially when he didn't have a lot strength in his arms to pull himself up. He was eventually able to make it up into the denser foliage eventually though.

'I guess all the basics training really did make me stronger.' He thought with a smile as he settled onto the branches, getting as comfortable as physically possible before hanging his bag on one of the branches near him.

'Now all I have to do is wait.'

Around ten minutes later the Hakushu players had began to stream onto the field and Sena took out Hiruma's binoculars. 'It looks like they're just doing some warm up drills for now.' He carefully reached over and extracted a pen and a notebook from his bag as his eyes roved around the group.

'Ah, there's the guy I helped yesterday talking with Maruko-san...' He turned slightly and gulped. 'And there's that huge guy and that pretty boy.' He'd have to be extra cautious to not get caught, he didn't want to wind up like that truck driver from yesterday.

Or even worse, if he got caught then they'd take away all the information he'd collected, and if he returned to Hiruma empty handed again, well...

Apparently the blonde had multiple security cameras set up around the clubhouse as a precaution, very high quality ones at that. And everything that they recorded Hiruma obviously could watch at any moment, pause, and print pictures of certain frames.

If Sena didn't succeed this time around, Hiruma had threatened that he'd print out a couple choice pictures of Sena in yesterday's outfit and hand them out to _everyone Sena respected_. And not everyone would be as calm about it as Shin had been, even after he explained the situation to them.

Although Juri would probably find it adorable, but her opinion on this didn't count.

As they started to set up to do their 40 yard dashes Sena took out a stopwatch from his bag, squinting through the binoculars.

'First up is number 49, alright, let's see what this guy has got.'


	41. Chapter 41

FASH: Guess what? I am doing fanart, remember what Takami said several chapters ago about the sibling figures vs the suitors? Yeah, that's what it's going to be. I'll probably end up finishing Sena-in-a-skirt earlier than that one though, I'll post them up somewhere when I'm done.

""-speech

''-thoughts

This was quite possible turning out to be the most boring two hours of Sena's life: watch something, jot the results down, take a couple pictures and repeat until restless. Not to mention that it was starting to get really uncomfortable, sitting up in the hard, rough branches of the tree he'd chosen to hide in.

But at least he'd gathered a fair amount of information on the Dinosaurs, there was no way Hiruma would be displeased with him when he came back with his note book full on information.

'Ah, number three can make an accurate punt kick.' He quickly jotted down the information right under:_ number 96 does something strange with his arms after someone catches a pass. _He would have attempted to write a bit more about that, but even with the binoculars it was hard to see what exactly the pretty boy was doing.

'Number 49 is... Spazzing out?'

The long-nosed boy seemed to be shouting about something, but Sena was a bit too far away to make it out clearly, but he could see that the boy had grabbed onto a football.

'Maybe he's going to do some sort of interesting throwing technique?' Sena thought as he reached over to put the binoculars and notebook back in his bag and he reached further as he tried to grab the camera.

Then he saw something moving towards him out of the corner of his eye and he instinctively moved back as the football crashed against one of the branches before it began it's decent. Sena, who had lost his balance in his attempt to not get hit, following after it.

The fall took a rather painful two seconds, graciously thin branches snapping against him before he hit the ground hard.

He was vaguely aware that someone was shouting: "Spy! Spy!" but at the moment he couldn't seem to care because he had just fallen a good fifteen feet and he _hurt like hell_.

He slowly opened his eyes, which he had clenched shut on the impact, only to find his vision was blurry due to tears that he _was not_ going to allow to run down his cheeks because he felt that he really shouldn't be crying at his age.

A blur with short, dark hair hovered over him was almost relieved to hear Maruko's familiar voice.

"Sena-chan?" She knelt down beside him and Sena was oddly touched that she seemed to be so concerned for him even though it was pretty glaringly obvious that he was a spy because normal people didn't fall from trees conveniently placed right beside a field while a practice was going on. "Are you alright?"

"Maria, who is it?" Marco asked as he strode forward and Maruko turned to frown at him before focusing her attention back on Sena. "Don't call me that." She murmured as she slowly and carefully wrapped her arms around Sena to lift him into a sitting position.

Had Sena been a bit more conscious of his surroundings he would have noticed several eyes widen as they caught sight of him, but really he was to busy thinking that even if he had fallen from a tree he was lucky as hell that his bag and everything in it hadn't fallen with him. His notes were safe, his pictures were safe and maybe he'd be able to convince the Dinosaurs that he hadn't really been there very long and he was only watching because he was curious, not because he wanted to spy on them.

Maruko waved a hand in front of his face and he snapped back to attention, turning to look at her so fast it was surprising he didn't get whiplash.

"Sena-chan, are you going to be okay?" Sena struggled for a moment to try and replicate the girl voice he'd used before, mouth opening wordlessly a couple time before any sound came out.

"Himuro-san." He somehow managed to croak. "I-I..." He blinked to keep his tears from falling but apparently closing his eyelids just pushed them forwards and he mentally cursed when he felt the warm liquid trail over his cheeks. "I'll be okay."

"Hey, why are you being so nice to her anyways?" The number 49 was pointing at Sena in irritation. "We should be finding out which school she goes to!"

Maruko threw him a look over her shoulder. "Tengu-kun, if you wouldn't mind holding the interrogation off until _after_ I've made sure Sena-chan is alright it would be much appreciated."

Maruko ever so carefully lifted Sena up onto his feet, one arm wrapping around Sena's back while her other hands lightly gripped Sena's wrist and brought it around her neck.

"I-I can walk by myself." Sena protested lowly, eyes locked on the ground, too afraid to look up at the players around him.

"Nonsense, it would be utterly cruel of me if I didn't give you any assistance." Maruko replied as she began leading Sena towards their clubroom.

"And you guys, get back to practice!"

After a silent journey to the Dinosaurs clubroom Maruko was quick to begin asking if Sena was alright, asking how he'd landed, how far he thought he had fallen, if he hit his head on the way down.

"I just landed more on my tail-bone than anything else, I should be fine, the grass sort of cushioned my fall." Sena murmured as he twiddled his thumbs, glancing up at Maruko shyly.

"Are you mad at me for... Deceiving you?"

"Well, it's a bit hard to be mad when everyone already suspected this."

Sena stopped twiddling his thumbs, eyebrows drawing together in confusion. "You suspected that I was a spy? Even yesterday?"

"Not yesterday. But today during lunch Marco was asking the other first years if they knew a girl that matched your description. I found it a bit strange that no one seemed to know you and when I checked up with everyone I found out there was no one named Kobayakawa Sena going to our school." She patted his shoulder gently. "As for being angry, perhaps I would be, but Marco told me what you did for him yesterday so I really can't find it in my heart to be mad at you."

"Himuro-san..." "Call me Maruko, being called Himuro-san makes me feel old."

A wide smile grew on Sena's face. "You're Maruko-neechan then."

She blinked slowly before giving him a small smile of her own. "Well, that's a first. In any case, how about telling Maruko-neechan which school you're from."

Sena slumped a bit. "Deimon. The team I'm the manager for is called the Devil Bats. If you haven't heard of us it's because we're from Tokyo."

"Tokyo? Why are you scouting a team that's so far away?"

"Hiruma-san said that you've got some really good first years playing this year and he mentioned something about the Dinosaurs going through a 'big change' right now or something so he wanted me to keep so tabs on you incase we meet in the Autumn during the Kanto tournament."

Maruko nodded her head, almost sadly. "The team has been going through a lot of changes lately. In any case I think it'd be best if you left now before Tengu-kun thinks I'm taking to long and comes in here to interrogate you himself."

"You mean, this is it? You're not going to... Punish me or anything?" He asked almost incredulously and Maruko stifled a chuckle behind her hand.

"Punish you? Did you expect me to sic Gaou-kun on you or something?"

'God I hope not. I'd die.'

"For now I think that fall from the tree has evened out your karma. But if anyone catches you spying again I may not be able to just let you off the hook so easily, so be a good girl, okay?"

"O-okay."

And with that Maruko left the clubroom to go back to the field and Sena began sneaking through the school on his way to the front gate, not wanting to have to pass by the football field in fear that someone would think that Maruko let him off too easy.

Which she probably did, Sena didn't even want to think about what Hiruma would do if he caught someone spying on their practice.

Sena let out a sigh once he made it off of school grounds, but he knew he wasn't completely safe yet. His bag was still in the tree and he couldn't go home without it, quite literally since his train ticket home was in one of the side pockets, but he didn't want to wait around to see when practice for them was going to end in fear that when they started walking home they'd see him.

Sena _knew _he'd be able to outrun them, but he was unfamiliar with this neighborhood and could easily get lost or cornered. Neither option appealed to him, especially considering that Gaou could probably crush him with one finger and very little effort.

So he ended up walking in a straight line, he wasn't quite sure how long the Dinosaurs would end up practicing for, but school had already been out for two hours, so it wasn't like he was going to have to wander around aimlessly for too long right? Besides, wandering around here wouldn't be like wandering around his neighborhood, no one here would recognize him.

He shuffled his feet forward for twenty minutes, easily ignoring any looks shot at him by boys as they passed, rapidly becoming bored. Somewhere ahead of him a couple were arguing, or rather, a girl was arguing with a guy about not wanting to break up and the guy was calmly, and quite coldly, telling her that he didn't want anything to do with her anymore.

He kept his eye glued to the ground as he walked closer, not wanting them to think he was listening in on their private moment.

"But I thought we had something special!" "That was just you getting carried away, I don't like clingy girls."

'Funny, that voice sounds kind of familiar.' But he still didn't dare look up, besides, why would anyone he knew be over here?

"But you said I was the cutest girl you ever met! And that you'd never find one cuter than I was." The female whined and there were several seconds of silence as Sena briskly walked by. Apparently he wasn't going quickly enough because arms suddenly grabbed onto his shoulders from behind and steered him around to that he was face to face with the girl.

"Well, would you look at that." The familiar voice behind him purred. "It looks like I've found a girl cuter than you already."

The girl in front of him puffed out her cheeks angrily and glared right at Sena who lifted up his hands in a pacifying gesture. "Hey, I'm just an innocent bystander."

"Whatever." The girl scoffed before turning her glare up to the person behind him. "And you, you're a bastard!" She turned away and stomped off angrily, much like a little girl throwing a temper tantrum.

The boys hands fell away from Sena's shoulders and Sena turned to look at the boy who'd dragged him into this, intent on telling him how very unhappy he was about the situation, but his complaints died in his throat.

'Oh. My. God.'

It was Agon and he was currently looking Sena over, freakishly similar to the way he'd looked at Mamori weeks ago.

"What do you know, you are pretty cute." He said and Sena could _feel_ himself dying on the inside.

He moved to run but Agon with his damnable reflexes managed to catch onto him before he managed to get anywhere.

"What are you so eager to get away for?" Agon asked in a coy sort of voice that had probably granted him access to a lot of women's bedrooms.

"A-Agon-san." Sena almost whined and Agon's eyebrows furrowed together in confusion. 'I didn't tell her my name.' He narrowed his eyes slightly as he studied the almost-terrified face in front of him, it was looking more and more familiar every second...

Then it clicked.

Agon jumped away with a cry of: "What the fuck?! Sena?!"

Sena nodded sadly. "Yeah, it's me Agon-san."

"Why the hell are you wearing that? Is that a _bra_?! There had better be a good explanation for this, like you're secretly a girl and have just begun your journey into womanhood!"

"Actually I was spying-" "So? Even if you're spying that doesn't mean you have to dress like that! This is that trash Hiruma's fault isn't it? I am so going to kill him!"


	42. Chapter 42

FASH: This is now my most reviewed fic ever! (Huggles everyone.) Thank you for always commenting and I'm glad everyone liked the last chapter, I'm secretly converting you all into being Agon/Sena shippers. (Insert evil laughter here.) Hey, if it worked on Akutan it can work on everyone else. (Although I really like Akaba/Sena too!) And just remember death by laughter is the best way to go! And sorry I didn't update yesterday, after work I was dragged to my uncle's retirement party. And in response to Koruyuha's question, yes Sena is going to see that match. Man, this is a freakishly long Author's Note...

""-speech

''-thoughts

"Agon-san, you don't need to kill anyone." "The hell I do!" Agon seethed, fingers itching to wrap around a certain quarterback's neck.

They took a hold of Sena's hand instead.

"Hey, where are you taking me?" "Back to Tokyo, were are getting you out of that outfit as soon as possible and I'm going to beat Hiruma within an inch of his life so that he never gets any weird ideas about making you dress up like that again."

Sena weakly struggled against the grip. "But Agon-san, I can't leave without my school bag." "Well, where is it then?"

"... In a tree at Hakushu, it's the other way around."

Agon briskly turned and began walking the other way, Sena didn't even bother to struggle anymore and just allowed himself to be lead away.

"Agon-san, what'll we do if they're still practicing by the time we get back? I can't just barge in there after they found out I was spying on them, it's just not... Right."

"Fine, I'll go get the bag. Besides, I don't want any perverts checking you out."

Sena rolled his eyes. 'Perverts checking me out, _right_.'

With Agon setting the pace they ended up reaching Hakushu in less than ten minutes and Sena was utterly mortified to discover that not only was practice still going but Agon wasn't letting go of his hand even as he dragged him towards the trees.

"A-Agon-san!" Sena whispered furiously as he glanced at the field nervously.

A fair amount of people seemed to recognize Agon, judging by the looks of anxious surprise on their faces, and then once they got over staring at him their eyes locked onto their interwoven hands and their faces dawned with some sort of mortifying comprehension.

'Sometimes I really hate my life.' He threw an unenthusiastic wave over at Maruko who gave a small wave back, clearly confused.

"Hey, which tree is it in?" Agon asked as he paused, finally letting go of Sena's hand and the brunette used it to point out the tree he had been hiding in and Agon sprung forward, climbing up into the branches easily and dropping down onto the ground with Sena's bag in what seemed like mere seconds.

"Alright, now let's get back to Tokyo." Agon grumbled as he passed the bag to Sena, angrily eyeing up the players on the field.

"And you guys!" He addressed them loudly and half of them flinched, with good reason of course, you never wanted to get on Agon's bad side.

"If you so much as think of doing anything inappropriate with Sena I will _cut your fucking balls off!_"

"A-Agon-san!" Sena shrieked, completely mortified. "Don't say things like that! People will believe you!"

"Good, because I don't lie when it comes to threats about bodily harm." The older boy replied in a creepy sort of way that made Sena very glad to know that he was one of the few people permanently on Agon's good side. "Hurry up Sena, the sooner we get there the sooner I can beat that guy's face in."

Sena moved to follow him off of school grounds but paused, staring at the Hakushu Dinosaurs out of the corner of his eye.

'It would be awfully rude of me if I just left.'

He turned to face the players and bowed lowly. "I'm really sorry for interrupting your practice. I really didn't mean to this time around and-"

"_Sena_."

"And I promise I won't spy on you guys again!" He swiftly turned and trailed behind Agon anxiously.

'I hope they accepted my apology...'

Marco turned to Maruko, eyebrows raising curiously. "Maria, what team did you say Sena-chan was the manager of?"

Maruko pursed her lips at the nickname. "The Deimon Devil Bats."

"I see, perhaps we should do a bit of our own scouting on these Devil Bats, their captain must be fairly confident that they'll make it to the Kanto tournament if he's already sending his manager to spy on us, I'd say."

Maruko nodded. "From what Sena-chan told me, he was rather well informed even before she came to check us out. It would be in our best interests to see what sort of team we might be going up against."

The journey back to Tokyo was decidedly awkward, with Agon throwing glares at any male who entered his field of vision and effectively scarring them off. It got even worse when they made it to Deimon, Agon's murderous aura multiplying ten-fold.

'Oh God, I hope practice is over by now.' The brunette threw a nervous look at the field and sighed in relief when he only saw a couple people from the soccer club.

'But the worst has yet to come.' He thought mournfully as he tagged along beside Agon. 'At least once we get inside the clubhouse I can change into my school uniform.' Of course, once they entered the clubhouse was also when the imminent Hell on Earth would begin.

"You fucker." Agon hissed as soon as he slammed open the door, Hiruma just calmly turned to look at him.

"What do you want, fucking dreads?"

Sena attempted to move past Agon towards the change room, key word being: attempted. Agon, with his damnably fast reflexes, easily took hold of Sena's shoulder before the younger boy could escape.

"What do you have to say about_ this_?" Agon sneered, gesturing to Sena's chest with his free hand.

Hiruma cocked an eyebrow. "I don't see what's wrong with it."

"What if a pervert with bad intentions had come across him?!"

Sena squinted up at Agon, unable to keep himself from thinking: 'Like you?'

"Che, he'd be able to outrun them." The blonde replied casually, with a hint of a smirk.

"Sena." Agon finally let go of his shoulder. "Go change." He ordered and Sena quickly obeyed, dashing into the change room and shutting the door tightly behind him.

He changed quickly, unable to ignore the sounds of rather violent conflict happening in the room next to him.

When he finally emerged from the change room the commotion appeared to have settled down in the physical sense, although the bruise forming along Hiruma's jaw and the rips and shallow cuts on Agon's clothes and skin bore testament to their prior scuffle.

"We've come to an agreement." Hiruma informed him proudly and Agon crossed his arms in a huff, but a smirk was clear on his face.

'Agon-san and Hiruma-san agreeing on something? I don't even want to ask.'

With an exasperated sigh he handed over the camera and his note book.

"They figured out I was spy after I fell from the tree-"

"You fell from the fucking tree?!" Hiruma questioned harshly as he took the proffered items.

"Yes, don't worry about me, the Dinosaurs' manager checked to make sure I was okay."

Agon moved forward, scoffing. "As if I'll trust someone else's opinion on your physical health. Come on, I'm going to walk you home."

Sena weakly protested, but Agon had always been the persistent sort and despite assuring him that he could make it home without assistance Agon was already leading him away.

Hiruma's only parting words were: "See you at morning practice."

'You're very welcome for the pictures and information I cross-dressed for.'

Agon quite diligently walked him home, questions springing forth from his mouth every couple of minutes.

"Are you feeling dizzy? Does anything ache? Do you want me to go beat that trash up some more since this is all his fault anyway?"

It was kind of flattering that such a violent egoist was trying to take care of him for the third time since Sena had met him. He highly doubted there were many people on this Earth who could boast that Kongo Agon had played doctor for them.

Unless they were girls and something _weird_ had been going on.

"Are you absolutely sure that you don't need me to give you a quick once over?"

"I'm fine Agon-san."

"You're positive?"

"Yes."

"If you're sure, but you'd better take a warm bath when you get home. Why the fuck does he have you spying anyways? You're not actually the manager so why couldn't the real one go?"

Sena paused and frowned. "That's a pretty good question actually, but I think it's better for my mental state of being if I don't know the answer." He started walked again at a brisk pace and Agon nodded sharply in understanding.

"I'm going to have to check up on you more often because clearly your teammates aren't looking out for you when that guy is concerned."

They slowed down to a stop when the reached Sena's house and Agon firmly patted Sena on the back. "Just remember to give me a shout if you ever feel like bringing that guy down a few pegs."

"I'll be sure to keep that in mind..."

"Good, I'll see you later."

"Bye Agon-san, try and stay out of trouble." Sena called and Agon threw a wave over his shoulder.

Sena entered his house with a tired sigh. 'Ugh, I don't wanna do my homework.' He slowly made his way up the stairs and entered his room, falling down onto his bed gracelessly. 'I think I'll take that bath first, get some relaxation in before tomorrow comes.'

Because he just knew that it was going to be a busy day tomorrow. His teammates were going to wonder what he'd been doing the last couple of days and he'd have to think up some 'not the entire truth but not really lies' answers to give them. Not to mention if anyone let it slip that he'd missed his last period classes two days in a row Mamori would find out, then his mother would find out and then he'd have to answer to them. Not to mention Hiruma was apparently up to something because he'd mentioned infiltrating the headquarters of a magazine.

But on the bright side, at least he wouldn't have to wear women's clothing tomorrow, _thank God_.

The next morning turned out to be everything he thought it would be with people insisting to know where he'd been before diving head first into practice.

Everyone was strangely full of effort today, even the people who usually gave it their all seemed more pumped up than usual during the morning practice and all throughout the school day he couldn't help but wonder what he had missed.

'Maybe the magazine that Hiruma-san infiltrated the headquarters of is going to do an article on us?' It was a possibility, but surely Hiruma didn't need to physically go anywhere to have his will be done, right?

He got his answer from Kurita before the after school practice began.

"Ah, you were away for those days so you wouldn't know, but we're going to be going up against Taiyo."

Sena blinked slowly. 'Taiyo? Taiyo, Taiyo, Taiyo...' "Wait! Isn't that the team with the heaviest line in Japan?!"

Kurita nodded and Sena shuddered, he'd never actually seen them play before, but if they were Japan's heaviest line then that must mean...

'It's going to be like an entire line made up of that number 70 player, Gaou-kun...'

"There's no way." He whispered under his breath and Kurita blinked at him in concern.

"Sena-kun?"

"There's no way we can-" Before he could finish his sentence a hand was clamped over his mouth and he was dragged backwards into the clubroom.

'There's no way we can win against a line like that.'


	43. Chapter 43

FASH: Woah, Merkitten, that huge review totally made my day. Once again thank you to everyone who reviewed, you guys make my millennium. For some reason chapters with Agon seem to get reviewed more, I see a trend going on here... Oh, and I suppose spontaneous combustion while eating chocolate is a good way to go, seeing as it involves _chocolate_.

""-speech

''-thoughts

Hiruma shut the door and leaned against it as he removed his hand from Sena's mouth and glared.

"What the hell happened to your self confidence?" The blonde growled. "You told me before that you'd make the lie into a reality, if we can win against Taiyo you'll be another step closer to that, so shouldn't you be happy about the chance to prove yourself?"

Sena shuffled his feet, wringing his hands nervously. "But Hiruma-san, I think this is just too much too soon, there's no way we can-"

"What's with this attitude? If you're being so negative how do you expect to win?"

"Well," Sena began uncertainly. "I think I may have had an epiphany of sorts, or maybe that's not the right word for it..." He ran a hand through his hair, eyes carefully averted.

"Well, what's this damn epiphany got to do with anything? Is this because you went to Hakushu?"

'Damn, right on the button.' "Well, I suppose that is sort of why..." He took a deep breath. "I'm fast, I know that and I do feel confident about my running ability but-"

"But what? As long as you're fast nothing else matters." Hiruma told him calmly, as if he were lecturing a five year old. "You beat Shin, doesn't that mean anything?"

"It does mean a lot to me, but speed isn't the only thing that matters in American Football and when it comes to strength I'm sub-par." 'Not to mention I was right there when Gaou-kun stopped a truck with one hand, I don't want to try and break through an entire line of people like that.'

Hiruma took several deep breaths as he moved away from the door to sit down, tapping his fingers against the table idly. "So why would you even bother to say you'd defeat the real Eyeshield 21 if you've got these issues?"

"Because you want me to, you could have told people I was an ace from Notre Dame without giving me the title of Eyeshield 21 and they would have been inclined to believe you. I want to live up to the expectations you have for me." Sena slowly moved forward, pausing once he was in front of the seated Hiruma.

"I remember during the Oujou game when you were going to leave because there was no way we were going to win, but that means you thought we had a chance at the beginning." The brunette glued his eyes to the floor. "I don't want to let you down Hiruma-san, I want to become everything you think I can be, I really do, but right now I think this game may be too much for me."

Hiruma was silent for a moment as he took in everything that had been said. "Does your angst have an off switch?"

"Hiruma-san, you don't understand. For someone like me who's only fast, what happens when I go up against someone strong like Shin-san? He'll train to become faster and I know that all of his efforts will pay off."

"Yeah, but Shin doesn't go to Taiyo and you don't have to worry about the line, our defense will worry about them." He paused before raising his voice, eyes staring over Sena's shoulder at the door. "Won't you?"

Sena whirled around and stared at the door, straining his ears for any noise coming from behind it. He didn't hear anything, but Hiruma's ears must not have been just for show because he very calmly ordered whoever was standing outside to come in.

They did and Sena nervously sputtered as Juumonji, Kuroki and Toganou came strolling in.

'How much did they hear? Do Kuroki-kun and Toganou-kun know my secret now?' But surely they couldn't have heard too much through the door, it's not like he and Hiruma had been talking very loudly.

"Couldn't really hear," Kuroki began and Sena inwardly sighed in relief. "But this means you think we can't take down these Taiyo guys?"

"Kuroki-kun, I don't think you really understand how outmatched we-"

"Huh?" "Huuuh?" "Huuuuh?! We've still got a week and a bit to train. There's no way I'm getting beat by some Egyptian theme team." Kuroki crossed his arms angrily as he frowned at Sena.

"What's got you all concerned anyways? Acting like we won't be able to hold 'em off." He snorted and Toganou nodded along with him.

"Let the linemen worry about the linemen." The boy with glasses said in an all knowing fashion. "He told us that Taiyo's back fielders aren't too great anyways." He gestured to Hiruma with his ever present volume of manga. "Because they're so dependant on the line, so once Eyeshield breaks through it's smooth sailing."

"But-"

"But nothing." Juumonji finally cut in, planting his hands on his hips. "This game is pretty important, whoever wins gets to play the American team. We won't loose."

For several seconds it was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

"_What_? No one ever told me anything about that!"

"Kekeke, if we can beat Taiyo's line there's no way we'll loose against the American team." Hiruma cackled evilly as he swiftly delivered firm kicks to each of the Huh Huh Brother's backs.

"Good to know that you three are so willing to cooperate, because I've got some special training in mind for you." He turned and waltzed out of the clubroom. "Now hurry up and get ready for practice!"

Sena watched Hiruma go with wide eyes before sighing in resignation. 'An American team huh? Well if Hiruma-san is so confident we're going to win I guess I'll have to shove aside my pessimism. Especially after that spiel about not wanting to let him down' He rubbed at his temples for a moment, not noticing as Toganou and Kuroki slipped out the door.

"Hey, Sena." "Yeah?" Sena looked up at Juumonji warily.

"Don't worry about Taiyo's line, we're not going to let them push us back." He said with utter confidence. "I don't know what sort of crazy training Hiruma'll put us through, but I think it's safe to say it'll give some drastic results." A smile pulled at the corners of his lips. "So don't worry about fighting with strength, we've got it covered."

"Th-thanks Juumonji-kun." 'I wonder what kind of training Hiruma-san will be putting them through?'

The next couple of days Juumonji, Kuroki and Toganou had been absent from normal afternoon practice and hadn't mentioned anything about where they were training or what they were doing. But they'd always come to morning practice looking just a little worse for wear.

It was beginning to make Sena worried.

"Hiruma-san, what kind of training are you putting Juumonji-kun, Kuroki-kun and Toganou-kun through?" He asked cautiously after practice one night. Hiruma just smirked.

"It's top secret training." He replied simply and Sena sighed.

"So there's no way you're going to tell me where they're going to practice after school everyday?"

"Not unless you want to do some more scouting for me in return."

The brunette backpedaled. "Scouting? But I thought you and Agon-san came to some sort of agreement that I wasn't going to do that again!"

"Che, as if I'd agree to something like that. What we agreed on was that from now on whenever I send you out to spy he has to go with you."

"Excuse me?"

"It's a win and lose situation for the both of us, it's the only sort of thing we could think up before you finished changing ." The blonde explained as he whipped out a semi-automatic and began polishing it.

"Win and lose? I don't get it." And he wasn't sure if he _wanted_ to get it.

Hiruma sighed in exasperation, as if the answer would be obvious. "The pro for me is even if you get caught, with fucking dreads around the team you're spying on won't dare to do anything drastic as punishment. The con for me is with him around you'll be more conspicuous. For the fucking dreads the pro is he can stick around to 'protect' you in those sorts of situations, the con is whenever I decide to send you out he has to drop everything he's doing to come escort you." He smirked evilly and Sena tried to keep himself from hyperventilating.

"Couldn't you have thought of something else?"

"That would have taken more time and neither of us wanted you to come out and get yourself involved in our fight. So you'll just have to live with fucking dreads hanging around whenever I decide to send you out."

'Oh God.' Sena cradled his head in his hands, memories of the last time Agon had walked around with him when he was _like that _drifting through his mind.

'It's going to be like having a rabid guard dog who attacks viciously without reason.'

Maybe if he crossed his fingers and prayed hard enough he'd never have to go spy on another team again?

The rest of the week passed by all too quickly and soon enough the team was making their way to Taiyo, their walk to the school from the train station was hot enough that sweat had already begun forming on their brow.

"Jeez, how can it be so hot when it's only June?" Monta questioned loudly and Sena shrugged beside him.

"I guess the weather's just like this over here." Sena replied as he wiped the sweat off of his brow, eyes slowly widening as Taiyo Prefectural High School came in sight.

'Egyptian theme indeed.'


	44. Chapter 44

FASH: Alright, random fanart is up, if you click my homepage button in my profile it should take you to my deviant art account. Anyways, the Taiyo game finally starts this chapter, woo.

""-speech

''-thoughts

The school was colossal to say the least, it looked like someone had found a huge Egyptian palace and then decided to relocate it and make it into a school.

'I wonder if this is what culture shock feels like?' Sena wondered as he and the others began making their way to the field, curiously glancing at the students that passed. 'Why does everyone have a tan?'

"Alright, now that we've finally got here we can start building our observation tower. Fucking fatty start unloading the supplies." Hiruma demanded and Kurita made quick work of sorting out the boxes he'd been dragging along as Mamori cautiously unrolled a set of blueprints, Yukimitsu stared at them curiously from over her shoulder, nodding along at it's lightweight but strong structure.

It takes a good thirty minutes for them to get the basic skeleton of the tower done and by that time Sena couldn't help but look over at Taiyo's tower which was at least twice as tall as their's and fittingly shaped like a pyramid.

"Hiruma-san, why is this school so obsessed with Egypt?" He couldn't help but ask and the quarterback snorted.

"Apparently the principal is a big archaeologist geek and he tried to get the students into it by designing the school like this, but he got carried away and so did everyone else." He threw a glare over at Taiyo's tower, angrily chomping down on a stick of gum.

"The higher you are the easier it is to see everything." A voice drifted from across the field, obviously wanting to be heard.

"Deimon's tower is puny." Another mocking voice joined in and Sena swore he could see a vein in Hiruma's forehead begin to throb. 'Uh-oh.'

"Maybe it's relative to the size of something else?" A third voice said and Sena flinched as Hiruma whipped out his cell phone, a decidedly dark look plastered over his face.

'Please don't do something too violent right before the game.' He inwardly pleaded, sighing in relief when their tower was slowly lifted into the air from it's position on the back of a ladder truck.

Hiruma promptly turned the situation around loudly declaring. "Taiyo's tower is so puny. What did you say it's size is relative to?"

The players across the field wisely kept silent and Hiruma chuckled to himself a bit more before turning to Sena.

"You'd better go get changed now, before the fucking manager realizes that you're _down here_, thus you can't be_ up there_." He pointed to the tower where a figure of some sort was moving around.

"Hiruma-san, is that Cerberus?"

"Does it really matter? It's too high to tell it's a dog as opposed to a human anyways, so go get changed, dammit."

With a relenting sigh Sena grabbed the duffle bag with his uniform in it and made his way to the washroom to change. 'I hope Cerberus doesn't do anything too dog-like up there, there's only so many things I can cover up without Mamori-neechan getting suspicious.'

He made his way back to the field and immediately went to Monta's side, the other boy seemed more excited than usual.

"Look at all the people coming to watch!" He said with a wide grin, eyes quickly scanning the area around the school's main gate where a fair amount of people were beginning to wander in. "I'm gonna make a whole bunch of awesome catches this game. Hero Max!" He pumped one fist into the air, the other arm hooking around Sena's shoulder.

"Hey, let's see who manages to score more points this game." He gave Sena a thumbs up. "A little friendly competition never hurt no one."

"Sure, I guess that sounds fun." Sena twiddled his thumbs, looking around at his other teammates curiously.

Kurita was beginning to look a bit nervous, flicking uncertain glances over at one of Taiyo's massive lineman.

"Man, that guy sure is huge eh?" Monta commented, moving away from Sena to look at the models of the Taiyo team that Hiruma had set along the tabletop field and he picked up the number fifty with a low whistle.

"I guess this massive doll wasn't that much of an exaggeration." He glanced back and forth between the model and the real thing several times before moving to put it back in place.

Only to have it slip from his fingers and land directly on top of the Eyeshield 21 model, causing several of the limbs to come out of their joints.

"Sorry, that's bad luck isn't it?" Monta asked, sweat-dropping as Sea picked up one of Eyeshield's detached arms.

"No, I'm sure it'll be fine." He replied as he diligently began putting his model back together. "I'm not going to let some omen like this effect my psych today."

Monta held a hand to his chest and sighed. "Relief max! But it looks like Kurita-san is beginning to feel the pressure."

"Yeah, but I'm sure that Juumonji-kun, Kuroki-kun and Tagonou-kun's secret training will show some major results during this game. Once Kurita-san sees them in action I'm sure he'll feel more confident."

Or at least he hoped so.

Soon enough the game was about to begin and the Huh Huh Brothers had huddled together before moving onto the field.

Sena passed by them slowly, ears straining to hear what they were saying.

"We're gonna beat the crap out of 'em!" Juumonji was saying. "We've mastered the training from hell, let's use _that technique_."

Sena's curiosity peaked and he quickened his pace. 'Training from hell? What on Earth was Hiruma-san getting them to do?'

The team huddled together and after their familiar war cry of: "We're gonna kill them! Ya-ha!" They got into position on the field with Taiyo's offensive line staring them down.

"If we don't destroy this super heavyweight line, we don't stand a chance!" Hiruma yelled harshly. "So go at them with all you've got!"

"Hut!" Taiyo's quarterback called and suddenly Taiyo's line moved backwards, the Offensive Tackles moved back further, while the Center moved back the least and the Offensive Guards were somewhere in between. Deimon's linemen followed after them, smashing into the triangular line, but it didn't budge.

"There it is! The pyramid line!" Someone from the sidelines called.

Harao leisurely lifted up his arm, eyes seeking an open receiver slowly as if he had all the time in the world. When he finally bothered throwing the ball it was to the number 86 receiver who had already gotten a fair head start.

But it was nothing Sena couldn't handle.

He dashed forwards and tensed the muscles in his arms. 'Here goes nothing.' He lashed out, arms hooking around the receiver's waist and forcing the other boy to the ground.

The result was a fifteen yard gain for Taiyo, but at least it wasn't a touchdown.

Sena moved back towards his teammates, frowning slightly as he saw Taiyo's quarterback and number 66 lineman speaking down at Kurita who'd been wholly overwhelmed by Banba's strength to the point of being pushed to his back, 'blue skied'.

Komusubi, Juumonji, Kuroki and Tagnou hadn't faired much better and when they lined up again fifty six yards from the goal line Kurita appeared to be losing his nerve, which was something Hiruma angrily commented on.

"Come on guys.' Sena inwardly rooted. 'It's time to show off whatever technique it is that you mastered. We can't afford having Kurita-san loose his will to fight.'

Taiyo's next offensive play had their line coming at Deimon's full force and, not entirely expecting this due to their last play, Deimon's line were unprepared for the huge bodies barreling towards them.

Sena inwardly winced as their entire line got 'blue skied', thankfully Hiruma was able to tackle the running back that broke through with the ball, but the damage had been done.

Not only had Taiyo gained yards, but the crowd that had gathered to watch the game were openly making fun of Deimon's attempt to beat Taiyo in order to play the Americans.

Kurita seemed to be hit the hardest by it. "It was crazy to challenge Taiyo." He admitted wearily. "I've made us a laughingstock, I'm sorry."

Thank God Hiruma always knew what types of things to say in situations like these.

"People always laugh at the underdog." He began, hands planted on his hips firmly. "Those are the words of a great and wildly successful athlete who ignored the ridicule of those around him and challenged the Americans."

"Hideo Nomo?" Kurita ventured a guess.

"No, Eyeshield 21!"

"Hey, did you really say that?" Monta asked and Sena quickly shook his head. "Nope, wasn't me." 'The original Eyeshield, maybe...'

"Wait, when did Sena-ku-" Kurita began, but was cut off when Hiruma swiftly pointed a finger right between his eyes.

"'It was crazy to challenge Taiyo'? What about three months from now? We're going to beat every team in the Kanto area, including Taiyo!"

Kurita blinked slowly. "I see... That's right! And if we can beat Taiyo, it means we're good enough to be competitive in the next tournament right? And then the five of us linemen can be proud..."

"Of course, because we're going to make it to the Christmas Bowl." Hiruma continued and Kurita nodded confidently.

Juumonji brushed himself off with a smirk and turned to look at Toganou and Kuroki.

"Come on guys, I'm not gonna let those bastards get away with taking me lightly."

"Obviously, we gotta show 'em who's boss." Kuroki crossed his arms and huffed before turning to look at Hiruma. "Hey, can we use the technique yet?"

"Kekeke, not quite yet, but soon. _Very soon_." Hiruma got back into position, grinning widely.


	45. Chapter 45

FASH: Man, this game is really hard to write, I tried to make it more about the line and next chapter it'll be Monta's turn to show off, hopefully I don't do too bad writing stuff not focusing on Sena. People who aren't too into the games might find these chapters kinda boring, but we'll get back to the fun stuff in a bit.

""-speech

''-thoughts

"Juumonji-kun, what's this secret technique I keep on hearing about?" Sena whispered lowly to the blonde after Taiyo managed to gain another eight yards.

Juumonji cracked his knuckles and stretched his arms over his head before replying. "We've been trying to do it, Kuroki was just asking if we could use it sooner to seem cooler and more like a secret weapon, but these guys are a lot different from those Zokugaku punks, it's harder to bring them down."

"Z-Zokugaku?" Sena sputtered and Juumonji threw him a reassuring look over his shoulder.

"Don't worry, we're starting to get the hang of these guys."

"Alright, cool." Sena replied, wildly looking around at the spectators to see if there was any sign of the Zokugaku players. There wasn't at the moment, but they could very well pop up sooner or later.

The game went on, each time Deimon's line was falling to the sheer power of Taiyo's, much to the sardonic delight of the Taiyo students who were watching.

"Hee hee, Blue Sky for you again! You really are douche bag brothers!" The number 66, Kasamatsu, lead the verbal attack.

"How many times is that?" Someone else jeered from the sidelines but the trio seemed oddly unaffected by it as they slowly rose up from the ground, talking within their little group about something that Sena couldn't quite make out. But one thing was for sure, they seemed to be more fired up than before.

The next play ended with Harao passing the ball to a receiver that was already in the end zone, but instead of his usual leisurely pace he hurried to complete the pass.

Taiyo may have gotten the first points, but for their quarterback to have actually bothered speeding up it must have meant that, bit by bit, the pyramid line was beginning to get pushed back.

"Let's make them stop laughing, we'll turn this game around Max!" Monta declared loudly as Taiyo set up for their extra point conversion kick and Sena nodded confidently .

"Hey, fucking sphinx!" Hiruma addressed Harao and Banba as they were walking past. Both Sena and Monta sweat-dropped at the nickname.

"This is the tenth play." The quarterback continued. "But isn't it strange? I don't see anyone who's lost their fighting spirit!"

Banba glared down at him and Harao frowned ever so slightly. "So you overhead that? No matter, only the foolish fight a losing battle with complete confidence."

"Heh, I'll show you a losing battle."

Taiyo's kicker managed to bring their team up to seven points and it was finally Deimon's turn for offense, lining up eighty yards away from the goal line.

"I'm sorry, I thought we could overpower the likes of your line with brute strength." Banba began and Kurita looked a bit startled at the apology. "I'll have to go at you with my full arsenal of techniques."

"Set! Hut!" Hiruma called and immediately Banba rushed forward, maneuvering himself to go under Kurita's outstretched arms and effectively sacking Hiruma.

"That Hiruma is such a chump." Sena heard someone comment and he clenched his fists. "If you can't make the pass at least throw it away."

'Hiruma-san did the right thing to protect the ball.' He narrowed his eyes slightly. 'We've got to show these guys we're not chumps.'

"Monta, it's time to start turning this game around!" He said to the receiver who nodded with a wide grin.

"Of course! Turn it around max!"

They set themselves up again, now eighty five yards from the goal line and on command Sena rushed forward, pretending to take the ball as he rushed past Hiruma, zig zagging along to confuse Taiyo's back-fielders.

Monta dashed forward, running the 'slant' route without any trouble as the majority of Taiyo's defense were trying to take Sena down, despite Banba's shouting that he didn't have the ball.

Kasamatsu made and attempt to sack Hiruma, but the blonde was able to react instantly once he saw Monta was in the clear and managed to pass the ball before Kasamatsu got too close.

And then, in typical Monta showing off fashion, he caught the ball and proudly held it over his head in triumph.

Only to have it smacked out of his hands.

The ball was once again in Taiyo's possession and Hiruma was not pleased _at all_.

"You do not let go of the damn ball, even if you're dead! You got that you fucking monkey? Now those bastards only need another twenty three yards for a touchdown."

"I-I got it." Monta replied weakly, closing his eyes in an attempt to ignore the firearms Hiruma was so obviously pointing in his direction.

The next play Taiyo only managed to get a two yard gain before Kuroki tackled the running back who tried to break through to the ground and Harao seemed to be rather displeased with his team's lack of progress.

"Alright, I think we're starting to make an impression." Hiruma cackled a bit for good measure before turning to the linemen.

"Hey you, fucking huh huh brothers, now's the perfect time to pull off 'the technique'. The 'juvenile delinquent murder method'!"

'What kind of name is that for a technique?!' Sena inwardly cried, crossing his fingers in hopes that whatever this 'murder method' was it wouldn't be against the rules.

Twenty one yards to the goal line and Taiyo's line rushed straight at them, intent on showing everyone how superior their line was once and for all.

But it was not meant to be, because as Taiyo's line rushed forward the huh huh brothers grabbed at their sleeves, took a diagonal step and threw them down and once Kasamatsu was out of his way Juumonji sprinted forward straight towards Harao and brought him to the ground.

Harao, who had never been sacked before and never really had bothered worrying about the possibility of it ever happening, dropped the ball.

Immediately the linemen surged forward, piling onto in hopes of claiming it for their respective teams, Kuroki and Toganou attempted to get closer to it, but they couldn't move aside Taiyo's massive linemen .

"Dammit!"

Thankfully with his small build Komusubi was able to dive in underneath everyone else and push the ball out from under the pile, leaving it bouncing around the field chaotically.

Taiyo's number 24 rushed forward, one hand reaching out for the ball but he was quickly bypassed by Sena who scooped the ball back into the safety of his arms and zipped past the battling linemen.

From the sidelines Yukimitsu and Mamori seemed to be gesturing at him wildly and he looked forward to see Banba of all people blocking his path, he couldn't pass on the right side because then he'd end up going out of bounds and on the other side Komusubi was pushing against Taiyo's number 64 lineman.

'This is going to be a tight squeeze.' He moved to run past him on the left side, but was stopped by one of Banba's arms as the other boy easily threw him to the ground. But even through that Sena hadn't dropped the ball, it was now in Deimon's possession.

They started up again, fifty nine yards to the goal line and Hiruma switched around the regular blocking positions to a trap block and Kasamatsu once again tried to sack Hiruma before he was able to pass or hand the ball off, but the number 66 was taken down by Komusubi who was able to tackle him from the side.

"Alright, everyone except Banba seems to be a hulking idiot, so if we keep changing up the blocking assignments it'll confuse them." Hiruma explained during a huddle. "So let's go break their brains! Ya-ha!"

Between constantly alternating between the 'juvenile delinquent murder method' and basic rushing Deimon was able to keep Taiyo's line on their toes and by the end of the first half Juumonji had even managed to 'blue sky' Kasamatsu. Something that he, Kuroki and Toganou were quick to shove into the other lineman's face proudly.

The score was Taiyo Sphinx: 13, Deimon Devil Bats: 12.

Monta approached Mamori with a passionate cry of her name and she looked at him in confusion.

"Monta-kun, did you want some water?"

"No, no. In the first half... You saw a disgraceful thing. I'll make up for having lost the ball in the second half. I will restore my disgrace with a super catch to the max!"

Mamori looked at him with wide eyes. "Oh, that's nice Monta-kun, good luck." She said before quickly spinning around and wandering over in the other direction.

'Wait a minute...' Sena pursed his lips. 'I don't think what he said is quite right.'

"I don't think he wants to have his 'disgrace' restored." Hiruma said loudly as he took a water bottle from Mamori. "Doesn't he mean 'clear his name' or 'restore his honor'?"

"Shh!" Mamori whispered, although Monta had already heard what had been said. "It's just a minor detail, at least he means well."

"Aw man, not cool." Monta mumbled to himself as he slump beside Sena on the bench.

"And haven't even made a touchdown yet, you're winning our competition so far."

"Don't worry Monta, you've still got the second half to show 'em what you've got." Sena reassured.

"True enough, and it looks like Taiyo's quarterback is giving his team hell over there." Monta rubbed at his nose. "Although it doesn't really make sense, it's not their fault he drops the ball when he gets sacked."

"Well, whatever was starting over there it looks like Banba-san stopped it before it went to far." Sena tried to get a closer look at the opposing team, Monta following after him as he went to stand beside Hiruma.

"Tsk. That fucking cue-ball is pointing out his weakness, now he won't drop the ball when we sack him." He turned around. "Alright you guys, this time go straight for intercepting Harao's passes! Offense! That mean even when you're on defense, be on offense!" He yelled, pointing at the offensive players.

'Wow, football really brings out his true character...' Sena thought with a small smile before turning to look at the score board.

'We're only one point down against a team like Taiyo and there's no way we're gonna lose in the second half. This game is ours!'


	46. Chapter 46

FASH: Alright, here's the attempt on the second half of the Taiyo game, hopefully it doesn't drag too much.

""-speech

''-thoughts

Monta had been pumping himself up for the second half when he heard a cry of: "Hey! You guys!" Coming from the other side of the field and both he and Sena turned to look at a boy with really _tall hair_.

"You think Taiyo's team is all about the pyramid line? If the upperclassmen are the pyramid line... Then I'm the corner-back chariot!" He pointed at them in a way that Sena assumed was supposed to be menacing. "Ancient Egypt was the age of battle vehicles!"

"Battle vehicles?" Sena and Monta chimed together, rubbing at their chins curiously. "Like a tank?"

"No, not what you're thinking! That's a modern weapon! Forget what I said about battle vehicles, think chariots. _Chariots_." He yelled before stomping off.

"Hey Sena, any clue who that dude was?" Monta asked lowly, hand cupping around his mouth to keep his voice from being heard by the possibly insane player.

"Well, he said he was a corner-back, so I'm guessing you'll get aquatinted with him soon enough."

"Yeah, that's the guys who's gonna try and keep me from catching Hiruma-san's passes right?" He flexed his fingers thoughtfully. "He's pretty huge, but there's no way he can match my speed right?"

Only time would tell.

During the first play of the second half just as Monta started running forward the corner-back, Kamaguruma Ken, lifted up his hands and harshly slammed them against Monta's chest with a cry of: "Chariot Bump!"

For a moment all the air was knocked out of his lungs and although he tried to recover from it quickly he didn't get over it fast enough to make it to where Hiruma had thrown the ball.

With the timing of their passes being thrown off by Kamaguruma's bump technique soon enough the ball fell into Taiyo's possession and Harao, now aware that his usual way of throwing the ball was a weakness, was able to pass it to the number nineteen receiver for a touchdown.

And then, as the icing for the cake, Taiyo's kick went in and the gap between the teams widened to eight points.

"Attack, attack, attack! If they get us once then we come back and get them twice!" Hiruma called, clearly irritated and the team nervously nodded. If they couldn't score extra points with kicks then they'd have to try and score more touchdowns.

By the final quarter the score was still at 20 to 12 and Deimon's players who were not only playing both offensive and defensive positions but also having to play in the excruciating heat of Minami-Kanagawa, were beginning to get worn out.

They managed to fend off Taiyo's offense and kept them from scoring any further touchdowns, but their corner-back had also effectively shut down Monta's catching. Sena had somehow been able to zig-zag through the packed area in front of him, but even then he'd only been able to gain eleven yards.

They had thirty more yards to go and less than a minute of game time left, so Hiruma rounded up the team into a huddle.

"Alright, we don't have much time left, so let's go for a long pass to the fucking monkey! We'll get a touchdown in one shot!"

Monta flinched before slumping slightly, eyes carefully avoiding Hiruma. "But I've been completely overwhelmed by his bump."

"Did you say 'overwhelmed'?" Hiruma scoffed. "Do you even understand your own position?"

"The receiver's game is different from our concentrated trench warfare." Kurita explained kindly.

"Just ignore the bump and run like hell up the field! The whole field is you're playground, you got that, number 80?" Hiruma barked and Monta nodded, comprehension dawning on his face.

'Honjo, when he crashes into the high wall, he must be a fearless athlete. The entire outfield requires an athlete who can cover it on his own.'

He took his place on the field, narrowing his eyes at the corner-back in front of him.

'I'm going out to _my_ playground!'

As soon as Hiruma took hold of the ball Monta rushed forward, once again falling victim to the 'chariot bump' but he was quick to pick himself back up and keep running down field, he had almost reached it to the end zone when he was pushed from behind and forced to go severely off kilter.

He hit the ground hard, but used his leftover momentum to keep rolling and was somehow able to lift up his arms right as the bal passed over him, gripping onto it tightly as he finished rolling into the end zone.

"Touchdown!"

Sena rushed forward, grinning widely. "Monta, that was amazing!"

"The one thing I can't be beat on is my catching, no matter who my opponent is. From now on, in all of Japan, no, the whole world, I'm going to be the best receiver!" He said proudly as he allowed Sena to help him to his feet

Thirty five seconds to go with a two point gap and Hiruma had chosen to go for the two point conversion.

"A cheap trick won't work so close to the goal line, so we'll push right down the center with all we've got. It's barely three years to the end zone. We'll flatten 'em with our strength!" He said and the linemen nodded confidently.

"This is gonna be a bit tough." Juumonji commented rather calmly when he saw the amount of players joining Taiyo's line, it was now made up of nine people. "But it's nothing we can't handle, right guys?" He asked, eyes flicking over to Kuroki and Toganou.

"Of course we can handle it!" Kuroki proudly announced.

"At least for as long as it takes Eyeshield 21 to break through in any case." Toganou said dryly, flicking a hand in Sena's direction as the younger boy was pulled aside by Hiruma.

"Remember, the ball's going to you and I think you already know you can't use your typical run. You can't hesitate when you charge in, you've got to rush straight on through with all you've got." He smirked. "If a Devil Bat only looks straight ahead, then he'll win for sure!"

'A Devil Bat? What's he going on about?' But he had no more time to think about it because everyone was already getting into position.

Then next ten seconds were probably the most hectic ones Sena could ever remember having. Kurita had managed to push Taiyo back a little bit, but the area in front of the end zone was still packed with players and absolutely no space had been opened up to let him through, so he did the only thing he could think of. He took a leap of faith.

He really hadn't thought that his legs would be strong enough to lift him up over the other players, thinking more along the lines of: maybe he'd just crash into them and his extra weight would turn the tide, so it goes to say he was rather surprised when he ended up sailing over his teammates.

Taiyo's linemen lifted up their hands to keep him from going any further, but the speed Sena's body was moving at and the rotation that he'd been put into during the jump allowed him to bypass their grasping hands.

He fell harshly on his shoulder in the end-zone, the ball cradled against his chest protectively.

"Touchdown!" The referee called and Sena hastily pulled himself up off the ground, looking at the score board rather proudly.

Neither team was able to score in the final thirty seconds of the game and so it ended in a tie. The Devil Bats, proud to have held their own against such a strong team had begun cheering while Hiruma glared at them rather moodily.

"You're all cheering like idiots! A tie isn't too different from losing." He said lowly, but since no one really wanted him to rain on their parade they didn't let it put a damper on their celebration.

"Hey Sen- I mean, Eyeshield. That was a pretty awesome jump." Monta exclaimed as he patted Sena on the shoulder he had fallen on.

Sena winced and moved his opposite pressure u to his shoulder. "Yeeowch!"

"What's wrong?" Monta asked with wide eyes and Kurita nervously stumbled forward to ask if Sena was alright.

"I should be fine, I just came down on my shoulder pretty hard, I may have twisted it a bit..."

"Hey, fucking shrimp, about that 'Devil Bat Dive'..."

"Devil Bat Dive?" Sena questioned, not entirely sure what Hiruma was referring to.

"Yeah, when you dove into the end-zone." Kurita supplied helpfully.

"Only use it once or twice per game, and even then, only if it's a clutch point at the end of the game! If you got busted up early in the game Deimon wouldn't stand a chance."

"Hey, why's that?" Monta questioned sullenly. "You've still got the catch master you know."

"Do you think Ishimaru could handle all the running on his own?"

"No way!" Monta replied and Sena nervously turned around to see if Ishimaru had heard the comment and judging by the rather gloomy aura that seemed to be surrounding the person known as the _star_ of the track team, he had.

'Oh dear.' "Uh, well... Look guys-"

"But if we need it at the end of a game, you go for it." Hiruma interrupted. "Doesn't really matter if you die once the game is over, right?" He asked with a smirk before turning to walk away.

'He's just too much.'

"Hey wait, if it's a tie game then who's gonna play against the Americans? Do we rock-paper-scissors for it or what?" Monta asked, rubbing at his chin curiously, turning his head when he saw movement out of the corner of his eye.

"Deimon wasn't used to this field, nor the climate." Banba stated as he moved behind Sena. "The conditions were in Taiyo's favor, but you still managed a tie. The game against the American's shall be yours."

"How gracious of you!" Hiruma commented , suddenly popping up out of nowhere with a smug smile tugging at his lips. "And now that we know that, let's get going to Enoshima!"

"Enoshima? What day is it today?" Sena questioned and Hiruma scoffed.

"You seriously don't remember? Idiot, today's the Kanto Spring Tournament semifinal. Time to see how _Takami-niichan's_ team fairs against _Agon-chan's_."


	47. Chapter 47

FASH: **Important**. I know there have been a couple people who'd like this to go at least up to the Bando game instead of ending after the Death March. I don't really have any problems with that except in less than three weeks I'm going to be going on a family vacation to a different continent and I won't be able to update for eleven or twelve days, but if you guys don't mind waiting that long for more then I don't mind keeping it going. Hell, I'm easily swayed by people's opinions so I'd probably go all the way to the Christmas Bowl if enough people requested it. So I set up a poll in my profile and it would be appreciated if I got some feedback so I know whether I need to rush towards and through the Death March to get this done before I leave or if I can slow things down a bit and add in a couple more things. Holy Hell, this is a huge AN.

""-speech

''-thoughts

The trip to Enoshima Field was, in essence, like taking a field trip. They took the monorail to get to the island and once there they stood gaping at the gorgeous beach before reluctantly following the other packs of people towards the field.

"Aw, but Kakei I wanna swim!" "_No_. We've got to get to the game and you have got to stop stripping down in public, it's juvenile behavior."

Sena, with an almost morbid sort of curiosity, turned to look at the pair who had been speaking as they came up beside him.

The one who apparently wanted to strip in public had wild blonde hair and was pouting at his stern faced companion.

'That guy looks kind of familiar.' Sena narrowed his eyes slightly as he took in the tall boy's appearance. 'Is he the one who was at the Bando game? The one asking about Eyeshield 21?'

"But_ Kakei_, the water looks so nice." The blonde complained loudly as he turned to look at Kakei, eyes catching sight of Sena from over the other boy's shoulder.

"Hey dude, did you need something?" He asked curiously and Kakei turned to stare down at him, rather intimidating.

'Oh yeah, it's definitely him, I remember those eyes.' Sena smiled nervously as he looked up at the tall boys. "Oh I don't need anything, I just recognized you, I was sitting beside you when you were looking over Bando's team to see if Eyeshield 21 was there, remember?" He asked hopefully and Kakei nodded slowly after thinking for a moment.

"Hey Sena, don't just stand there socializing." Monta said as he slung an arm over Sena's shoulder and Sena winced a bit at the pressure. "Everyone's getting ahead of us, we've got to hurry max!" He began dragging the other brunette away and Sena shyly waved goodbye to the pair of tall boys and the blonde waved back energetically with a cry of: "Bye little dude!"

Then Sakuraba zoomed by with a boy in a wheelchair.

"Stop! You made us sneak out of the hospital, if we get hurt now-"

"We'll be fine!" The young boy cut in, arms moving at in incredible pace as he rolled forward, Sakuraba being dragged behind him.

"Well, he seems to be doing well." Sena noted dryly and Monta nodded.

"But if they snuck out of the hospital I hope that creepy head nurse doesn't find out, she might curse 'em."

They entered the stadium and found seats with the rest of their team behind and to the left of one of the goal posts. Once seated Sena attempted to search out Agon in the crowd of Naga players, knowing full well that the older boy never took the games very seriously, but he at least hoped that he would show up on time for a semi-final game.

"Che, you won't be able to see from this far away, use these." Hiruma settled down beside him and held his pair of binoculars in front of Sena's face.

The brunette took the binoculars thankfully and Hiruma lazily brought his arms up behind his head.

"So which team are you going to root for?"

Sena pulled his eyes away from the binoculars momentarily to raise his eyebrows at the question.

"Why can't I cheer for both? Even though I'm fairly certain I know the outcome, why do I have to choose? It's not fair." He pulled the binoculars back up to his eyes.

"But if you cheer for both how will we ever find out who your favorite is?"

"I don't play favorites."

Hiruma snorted. "Like hell you don't. One name: Shin Seijuro."

Sena pursed his lips. "Agon-san isn't here yet... And that doesn't count." He carefully placed the binoculars in his lap and pulled out his cell phone, eyes flicking over at Mamori curiously as she pulled out a stack of picture cards about the history of the Kanto tournament.

He attempted to call Agon's cell phone, but even after ten rings the older boy hadn't picked up yet.

'I hope he's not still asleep, this is a really important game that he's running late for.' He tucked his cell phone away with a sigh. 'I know Unsui-san will call him, I just hope he picks it up when he does.'

"In just a moment, the Kanto Tournament semi-final: Oujou versus Shinryuji will begin." A voice announced over the loudspeakers and Hiruma blew a bubble contemplatively.

"Hey, fucking shrimp. Go change into your uniform." He ordered and Sena gaped at him.

"What? Why now?" He wasn't exactly hot on the idea, especially since he knew the tall boy with the pretty eyes who was looking for an Eyeshield 21 was somewhere nearby.

"With all the media here, we've got to make use of the publicity." Hiruma stated as he threw a positively conniving look over at the group of people with cameras, notepads and video cameras.

Sena weakly protested, but once Hiruma had his mind made up about something there was nothing you could do about it, so he reluctantly began making his way towards the exit.

It was just his luck that Mamori had caught sight of him leaving and had asked him where he was going.

"Um... Well... I must have dropped my assignment book when we got to Enoshima. I thought I'd go look for it."

"I'll go help you find it." Mamori offered and Sena didn't know wether to be relived or discouraged.

Hiruma would not be pleased about this, but on the bright side at least he wouldn't have to deal with the stern boy looking for Eyeshield 21.

They exited the stadium and had begun crossing the bridge when Sena caught sight of a familiar figure walking towards them, breezing right past Mamori and heading straight for him.

"Sena what are you scuffling around over here for?" He asked, clearly not in a hurry even though he was already running late.

Mamori had turned to look at the pair of them curiously, eyes slowly moving from Sena to Agon before going back to Sena again.

"I, uh, lost my assignment book and Mamori-neechan is helping me look for it."

"I'll help too." Agon offered and Sena crossed him arms.

"Agon-san, I really think you have better things to be doing right now than helping me look for my assignment book, you have a semi-final game that you need to hurry to."

Agon ran a hand through his dreads lazily. "Fine, fine. Those guys had better not be losing when I get there." His eyes narrowed dangerously and Sena cautiously shuffled to the side as Agon walked past. "See ya later Sena." He murmured and Sena watched him walk away, eyes widening when he caught sight of something hanging out of Agon's bag.

'Is there blood on that shirt?' He shuddered a bit, he had always known Agon was violent, but he never really thought the other boy was _that_ bad.

"Sena, that was Kongo Agon right?" Mamori asked slowly and Sena nodded. "And he was the one who showed up at our basics training a few weeks ago right?" He nodded again. "And how exactly do you know him."

"Play dates." He said dully and Mamori brightened up.

"Really? It's kind of strange that everyone you had play dates with have some sort of connection to American Football, it's almost like a fateful occurrence." She giggled lightly for a moment before remembering the task at hand.

"Come on Sena, that assignment book won't find itself." She said, turning around and closely examining the surface of the bridge as she walked forward.

Sena promptly took the small book out of his pocket and lightly tossed it aside.

"Oh, I think I found it Mamori-neechan!" He exclaimed as he went over to pick it up and Mamori turned back around, eyebrows scrunching together.

"I was sure I looked over there though, I can't believe I didn't see it."

"Oh, you know what they say, sometimes you can't see what's right under your nose." Sena replied nervously.

"I suppose you're right. Let's get back to the game."

Oujou had lost, and although it was the outcome that Sena had expected he couldn't help but feel a bit downhearted by it.

'Agon-san didn't even bother playing today.' It sort of annoyed him that Agon was treating football the same way he treated all the other sports he'd played before, especially when there were hard working players like Unsui on his team and Takami and Shin on opposing teams doing everything they could to improve.

As everyone got ready to leave Hiruma seemed almost deliriously happy about being close enough to hear about a new play name that Oujou had come up with called the 'Ballista', thus people were attempting to stay further away from him then usual.

A happy Hiruma was a scary Hiruma after all.

'That boy that came with Sakuraba-san seems awfully distraught about this.' He couldn't help but think as he listened in on the things the boy was shouting.

It was mildly offensive, something about the Nagas only being able to win because Sakuraba had just gotten out of the hospital and a couple names were thrown in, nothing that a level headed team like the Nagas wouldn't be able to take into stride.

Unfortunately not everyone on the Nagas had a good temperament. Sena could hardly believe it when he saw Agon pick up a ball and throw it at the unsuspecting boy, but that didn't stop him from dashing forward, intent on getting the boy out of harm's way.

He wasn't the only one who reacted, both Sakuraba and Monta had moved to catch the ball before it hit it's target.

They had stared at each other when they realized they were both holding the ball.

"Huh?" Sakuraba uttered as he looked down.

"Huh?" Monta echoed as he looked up.

"Huh?!" They said together when they realized that Torakichi had been moved several meters away by the now gasping Sena.

The brunette took a couple moments to recollect himself before straightening out and turning to stare at Agon.

He knew he was a bit of a bully, from personal experience at that, and he knew the older boy was violent, but this was something Sena could not overlook.

He stomped forward, frowning as he got closer.

"Agon-san." He began lowly as he climbed up the stairs towards where Agon was standing, not looking uncomfortable in the least.

"What's your problem Sena? It's not like the twerp needs his legs anyways." Agon said calmly and Sena took a deep breath, he wasn't fond of the idea, but it was high time that someone at least tried to teach Agon right from wrong.

Apparently that someone was going to be him.


	48. Chapter 48

FASH: Kekeke. This is now one of two Eyeshield fics that is over one hundred thousand words long. Well, I feel like I've accomplished something, I've never written anything this long before. When will it end? Remember to vote and we'll find out, although I've gotta say it's pretty one-sided so far. To n/a: I NOTICE YOU! Your vote counts. And to Tuli-Susi: Kakei looked down at him in an intimidating fashion, because I think it's just natural for him to be intimidating and the Monta and Sakuraba catching the ball while Sena got Torakichi out of the way did happen in the manga. (Or is that the part you were asking about?) And Lazy-ass-Ninja, your review made me grin, have fun refreshing the page!

""-speech

''-thoughts

"Agon-san, I am _very_ disappointed in you." He said and Agon scoffed, rolling his eyes.

"As much as I care about your opinion, for some reason I don't really-" Agon paused as his hand automatically moved in front of him to grab a hold of Sena's wrist.

"... You were attempting to hit me?" Agon asked with a raised eyebrow and Sena nodded sullenly and planted the hand not in Agon's grasp on his hips.

"Agon-san, I realize that you have a superiority complex the size of Mount Fuji but that doesn't mean that you can justify your violent actions!" Sena began, voice starting to get a little louder towards the end and a couple of the other Naga players were starting to look at him like he was insane for saying that.

He couldn't help but agree with that thought, but now that he started he wasn't going to stop.

"Honestly! Do you take anything seriously? Not only are you late for the game, apparently you got into a little trouble on your way here. What exactly were you doing before you got to Enoshima because there is a substance on your shirt that looks suspiciously like-"

Agon moved behind him a clapped a hand over his mouth.

"Alright, seriously, anymore of me taking this from you is going to ruin my reputation among this trashy team and then I'm going to have to put everyone back in their place, so if you don't want me to kick anymore asses then I've already done today you are going to come with me where we can have this 'discussion' in private."

Sena nodded, vaguely contemplating wether or not he should bite Agon's hand as the older boy began dragging him away, hand still clasped over his mouth.

He was still a bit too much of a coward to do that, but he bet the look on Agon's face would have been priceless if he had gone through with it.

Once Agon had lead him a fair distance away from his team and the other various people who had been staring at the confrontation curiously he finally took his hand away from Sena's mouth and the brunette took a deep breath before beginning where he left off.

"Is that stuff on your shirt blood? Because if it is it had better not be from some innocent bystander!"

"Hey, if someone pisses me off then they're going to get what's coming to them." The older boy replied calmly and Sena gapped at him.

"Even if the person who makes you angry is a _child_?! Agon-san, you can't act like this! It's... It's just wrong!"

"Sena, I'll be brutally honest with you. I don't care." He patted Sena's shoulder lightly, frowning when the younger boy winced at the contact.

"Sena, you okay?"

"I'm fine, I just did a new move today and hurt my shoulder a bit, it's nothing I can't handle." Sena shrugged away from the contact and Agon's frown deepened.

"Hey, let me check it out for you."

"Nope." Sena stubbornly replied as he crossed his arms and looked away. "Doesn't it go against your nature to care about the well being others?"

"You're different. Now let me take a look at your shoulder or I'll force you to let me take a look at your shoulder." He gripped onto the hem of Sena's shirt, smirking at him challengingly.

But the smirk faded when they both heard a muffled cough coming from behind them and they turned to see Unsui looking at them suspiciously.

"Agon, what are you doing to Sena?"

Agon looked down at his hands, still gripping at the hem of Sena's shirt and quickly pulled them away.

"He hurt his shoulder and he won't let me check it." Agon stated almost childishly. "He'd probably let _you_ check it though. Unko-chan, check his shoulder!" He demanded and Unsui furrowed his eyebrows as he turned to look at Sena.

"I'm fine Unsui-san, you don't have to worry about me."

"He's lying, check his shoulder!"

Unsui resisted the strong urge to message his temples and instead sighed.

"Sena, your team is getting worried so you'd better get going, Agon, if Sena says he's okay then I'm sure he's okay. And for future reference dragging him away to an _open area _and attempting to strip him down to make sure he's okay isn't exactly a wise decision, so the next time you think Sena is hurt please refrain from doing so."

Agon scowled but his cheeks went slightly pink.

"Well, I'd better get going back to my team then. Agon-san, think over what I've spoken to you about, Unsui-san, congratulations on your team's victory."

"Hey, why didn't you congratulate me?" Agon asked sourly and Sena rose his eyebrows at him.

"Agon-san, you didn't play at all during this game." He commented dryly and Agon shrugged.

"So? Congratulate me for getting them this far."

Sena rolled his eyes and turned to walk away, a couple choice words floating through his mind to say in response to Agon's statement that he ultimately decided not to say, instead just settling for a curt goodbye as Unsui began the chore of dragging Agon home.

Sena walked back across the field towards his teammates, trying to ignore the hushed whispers that started up once he had come into the sight.

He could have swore he heard someone that they were amazed he hadn't been killed for approaching _Kongo Agon _like that.

Not being trash in Agon's eyes had it's perks, such as being able to speak your mind without having to worry about him destroying your body, for the most part.

"What the hell was that all about?" Juumonji asked gruffly once Sena came within hearing distance. "It looked like you were giving that guy hell."

Sena sighed. "Oh, I tried to give him hell, but he wasn't very affected by it."

"Really? Did you give a bunch of guys like him hell all the time when you ran with the gang?" Kuroki asked and Mamori turned to look at him incredulously.

"Gang?!"

"He's just an idiot, ignore him." Toganou commented lazily from Kuroki's side and the brunette glared at him.

"Who are you callin' an idiot?"

"Anyone who is convinced that _Sena_ was in a gang is an idiot in _everyone's_ books. Just accept it."

The trip back to the monorail was filled with excited chatter, especially from Monta. Sena was really only half listening to it, to depressed that his talk with Agon apparently hadn't done any good.

Maybe if he pretended to be really hurt but he wouldn't let Agon check to make sure he was okay until the older boy promised to try and control his temper would give him better results? Until of course Agon found out it was just a lie and would then proceed to take out his anger on everyone around him but Sena.

Okay, maybe that wasn't a good idea.

He had been nodding along to something Monta was saying about the Naga's corner-back when he heard something behind him that made his heart stop.

"That was quite a game, I'd say."

He didn't need to turn around to know that it was Marco of the Dinosaurs who said that and frankly even if he was unsure he wouldn't want to turn around in fear of his identity being revealed as a boy.

So he picked up the pace, Monta unconsciously keeping up with him as he rambled on about the game.

"I heard that Sena-chan's team is going to be playing against that American team tomorrow, what do you say Maria, do you think we should go watch?"

"Of course. And I'd like to see Sena-chan again, she's a sweet girl."

'Oh God, Maruko-neechan is with him.' He started walking even faster and Monta finally took notice of it, turning to look at him curiously.

"Hey, what are you walking so fast for Se-" He paused when Sena began making furious hand motions and mouthing 'don't say my name'.

"-phiroth."

Sena slumped a little but supposed that being called _Sephiroth_ was better than being called Sena at the moment. Unfortunately Juumonji had heard the conversation and turned to look at the pair in confusion.

"Sephiroth? What the fuck?"

"I'll explain later." Sena whispered lowly. "But for now just don't call me by my name."

"Uh, okay." Monta replied awkwardly and Juumonji shrugged before facing forward once again.

"So, _Sephiroth_... Did you like the game?" Monta asked, putting unnecessary accentuation on his 'name'.

'Just as long as they don't walk by us and recognize me I'll be okay.' He thought to himself. 'But if all goes well and they come to the game against the Americans tomorrow, Maruko-neechan said something about wanting to see me again. Oh dear, I don't think I like what I've gotten myself into.'

They thankfully made it onto the monorail without any horrible, identity crisis incidents happening, but of course once they were in the clear both Monta and Juumonji had seated themselves in the pair of seats across from him.

"So, Sena." Juumonji began lowly, chin resting on his clasped hands. "How about that explanation?"


	49. Chapter 49

FASH: I loved reading through the reviews for last chapter, you guys are amazing and you make my day. Anyways, so far over 90 percent of the votes are saying to go for the Christmas Bowl and there are no votes to end it after the Death March, so since I'm not in a rush to finish this I'm going to throw in some more Sena scouting other teams soon. Yay! He'll be going to Kyoshin for sure, any other schools you guys want him to check out?

""-speech

''-thoughts

Sena fiddled with the hem of his shirt nervously, wondering if he should just lie about the situation to save himself from the embarrassment.

'But then again, maybe with a couple other people knowing would make it easier for my identity to be kept a secret.' Because if Maruko and Marco really did show up at the game against the American team and started asking the Devil Bats where their _other_ female manager was it wouldn't take too long for his cover to be blown.

"Okay, what I'm about to tell you, you can't tell anyone else."

"Really? Not even Hiruma-san? Cause if he starts asking me about whatever this is I don't think I could keep it a secret without losing all my ways of communication." Monta admitted honestly and Sena sighed.

"Don't worry, he already knows. In fact, he's the reason behind it."

Monta and Juumonji leaned in a bit closer, curious.

"Remember when I said I had gone to spy on that team?" He asked and Monta nodded vigorously.

"Well, I got caught and the manager and quarterback of that team were walking behind us on the bridge."

"So? Even if they found out it was you I highly doubt they would have done anything out of revenge when they were so clearly outnumbered. This doesn't explain the whole Sephiroth name thing." Juumonji commented almost boredly.

"Well, they know my real name and they are under the false impression that I..." He took a deep, calming breath. "Am a girl."

Monta's mouth dropped open and Juumonji cocked an eyebrow at him, a devious sort of grin slowly growing on his face.

"Really? And why exactly do they think that?"

"Because Hiruma-san made me dress like a girl." Sena answered seriously and Monta's eyes widened comically as his mouth moved to form words, no sound coming out.

Juumonji's grin had faded somewhat and he coughed into his fist as his cheeks turned a rather rosy red.

"Dude, that's just weird." Monta finally managed to say. "Do you make a really convincing girl?"

"More importantly, why did you give them your real name if you were trying to mask your identity, honestly." Juumonji rolled his eyes and leaned back in his seat.

"It just came out, I only realized I should have given Maruko-neechan a different name after I already told her."

"Maruko-neechan? You sure get chummy with people." Juumonji smirked in obvious amusement. "So, anyone hit on you while you were disguised as the fairer sex?"

Sean went red and sputtered in embarrassment. "W-wh-what would make you ask that?" He asked, voice going a little higher than normal.

The pair across from him immediately caught on and Monta, forgetting that this conversation was supposed to stay secret, loudly blurted out: "Some guy hit on you?!"

It suddenly went very silent and Sena buried his head into his hands. "Monta, did you have to ask that so loud?"

"Uh, sorry dude." He apologized, but the damage was already done.

Kuroki was unsuccessfully trying to stifle his laughter behind his hand while the majority of the others were looking at Sena incredulously.

Except for Hiruma, who probably already had a hunch something like that would happen, and Mamori, who stormed over to his side, a hand resting against her mouth daintily as her wide eyes bore straight into Sena's.

"Sena, is that true?" She asked slowly, as if she were unsure about how to handle the situation.

"Yeah, but I had everything under control." 'Sort of.' "So if we could all just forget it ever happened I'd appreciate it." He said with a sigh as he attempted to look on the bright side.

'At least Shin-san didn't hit on me when he saw me during his jog. Not that he would have, since he could tell it was me within seconds, but if he did I don't think I'd ever recover from the shock.'

He leaned back in his seat, suddenly very tired. The entire day had been draining: physically, emotionally and mentally and he really didn't want to take part in it anymore.

So he let himself fall asleep.

Of course whenever he fell asleep somewhere that wasn't his bed, usually it was the bath, he'd wake up feeling oddly disoriented because he wouldn't remember how he ended up in his bed.

This morning was no different and Sena stared at his sheets in mild wonder as he sat up. His sheets had actually been tucked around his body and his father, who was always the one to put Sena to bed if he fell asleep before getting there, never actually tucked him in. And he was still in his uniform, minus the blazer, even though his dad usually changed him into his pajamas.

This was just weird.

'Okay... I fell asleep on the monorail...' He began as he slowly got out of bed.

'I guess Mamori-neechan didn't wake me up when we had to switch to the train or when we made it to our stop.'

But Mamori, although she was admittedly stronger then him, wouldn't have been able to carry him very easily unless he'd really only been half asleep and had stumbled along in whatever direction Mamori had been leading him in. And if Mamori had been the one to put him to bed it would explain his state of dress and the tucked sheets.

Of course that theory flew out the window when, after changing into a fresh set of clothes, he made his way downstairs and the second thing his mother said to him, right after her cheery morning greeting was: "Who was that boy who brought you home last night?"

"Boy?! You mean Mamori-neechan wasn't the one who did it?" 'Who the heck tucked me in bed last night?'

"No, it definitely wasn't Mamori-chan. He was blonde, a bit, hmm, scary I suppose and rough around the edges, but he seemed nice enough."

'Blonde and scary? That could be either Hiruma-san or Juumonji-kun, but then again, Mamori-neechan would probably die before she let Hiruma-san take me home...'

Of course it was still embarrassing to think that one of his teammates had actually carried him home and put him in bed.

'I wish they had just woken me up instead.' He slowly sat himself down at the kitchen table and his mother hovered over him curiously.

"Sena, aren't you running a bit late?" She question and Sena's eyes snapped over to the clock hanging up on the wall, he had seven minutes to get to the morning's warm up.

"Gotta go mom! See you later!" He cried as he dashed to the door, swooping down to pick his school bag up on the way.

"Sena, don't forget your-" The front door slammed shut. "Lunch." She finished lamely.

Sena arrived at school a horrifying ten minutes late only to discover that practice didn't seem to be happening, but the shooting of a film was.

"What's going on?"

"Fucking shrimp, you finally made it." Hiruma loomed over him. "Normally I'd shoot at you for being so late, but I need you to suit up ASAP, so get to the clubhouse, change and make it snappy. I've got a video to shoot."

"But why? Shouldn't we be warming up for the game later on today?" Sena asked and Hiruma frowned darkly.

"Apparently the Aliens' coach thinks he just cancel the game the day it's supposed to occur, so we're going to give him a bit of incentive to come over here for a new game, unless of course, he's too much of a chicken." The older boy cackled for several long moments before sobering up and turning to glare at Sena.

"Stop standing around and get changed!" "Right! On my way!"

After a rather quick change Hiruma took a single take of him running at top speed directly towards the camera.

"Cut! Alright, time for a lunch break."

"Lunch? But it's not even eleven o' clock yet." Not that Sena minded, he hadn't had time to eat breakfast and he was fairly certain that he hadn't brought his lunch.

"Yeah, but I need to shoot the last of this footage so I can get on with the editing and you all can fully recover from the Taiyo game so that no one whines to me during morning practice tomorrow that they're still not feeling one hundred percent." Hiruma tapped a couple fingers along the camera idly.

'Just what sort of video is this going to be if he needs to film us while we're eating?' Sena couldn't help but wonder as he sat down between Mamori and Monta.

"Hey, that chicken look delicious." Monta said as he took his seat and Sena nodded along, casting a curious glance in Juumonji's direction.

'I wonder if I should thank him for bringing me home last night?' But that would just be weird wouldn't it? It would be easier if he just pretended to be oblivious.

"So I take it my direction were easy enough to follow Juumonji-kun?" Mamori asked as she handed the boy a plate and he nodded.

"Yeah, I found his house pretty easy."

"Sena, you really should thank Juumonji-kun for going through the trouble of taking you home. I would have done it myself but I had a bunch of things to carry."

"Th-thanks Juumonji-kun." Sena said lowly, eyes glued to the food in front of him.

"It was no problem. But man your mom sure worries about you. Once I got you up to your room she just tucked you right into bed like you were five years old."

"Oh..." 'Well, at least that explains that.'

"Fucking secretary, stick around after this, I've got something I need to talk to you about." Hiruma said as he set up the camera and Sena stared at him.

"Secretary? Have I been demoted or something?" He asked incredulously and Hiruma glared at him. "Alright, I'll stay after..."

After a rather enjoyable meal, despite being filmed while eating it, everyone slowly began to make their way out of the clubhouse until only Sena and Hiruma were left.

"So, you don't have any plans for tomorrow after school right?" Hiruma asked, uncaring as he leafed through several papers he was holding, as if he already knew the answer.

"Actually I was think of going over to Oujou." Sena replied and Hiruma cocked an eyebrow at him.

"Did your little fit about the fucking dreads' course of action keep you from giving your condolences?

"Actually I don't like the idea of going up to a team right after they've lost, it seems too personal, like I'd be barging in on a really private moment."

Hiruma snorted. "Right, and how long have you known Takami again?"

"But it wouldn't just be Takami-niichan and since I'm not a part of the team it would be awkward if I approached them too soon."

"Whatever, since you're so set on that I guess I'll just have to reschedule the for another day." Hiruma rolled up the papers he'd been holding and frowned. "You are damn lucky this plan wasn't set in stone yet, otherwise there's no way I'd let you go into enemy territory for such a stupid reason."

"Hiruma-san, what plan?" Sena asked cautiously, as of late most of Hiruma's plan seemed to be revolving around something he was adverse to.

"You'll find out sooner or later."

And by the way Hiruma said it, Sena was going to find out later, like, five minutes before the plan was set in motion.


	50. Chapter 50

FASH: Alright, chapter 50! This chapter is a bit longer than usual because once I go back to school I won't be able to update as often so I've got to get into the habit of writing longer chapters. It's only about a thousand words more than usual, but that's still a couple pages more.

""-speech

''-thoughts

After school the following day Sena slowly made his way to his own house before his journey to Oujou, he had no intention to arrive at the school before their practice ended.

And their practices tended to go on for a _long_ while.

He wasn't even sure what he was going to say when he got there but he was fairly certain it would come to him, it wasn't like he'd become paralyzed with fear, he wouldn't speak with the _entire_ team, although some of them might listen in depending on if any of them stuck around after practice to hang out.

He sighed wearily as he entered his front door before moving up to his room so he could get a start on his homework.

'Telling them they played a good game really won't do anything. I could take a page from their coach's book and tell them that in the world of competition only those who are defeated can become stronger, but they've probably already heard that by now.'

He slumped into his seat, head slowly coming to rest on his desk.

'Well, I've got a couple things to say to Sakuraba-san at least, along the lines of: why the hell were you playing in the game if you haven't technically been discharged from the hospital yet? Or I'll ask that if he's there anyways, maybe they'll discharge him since he was well enough to sneak out.'

He lazily dug a hand into his school bag and pulled out his textbooks, flipping through his English book to the current chapter they were working on idly.

'And then tomorrow instead of joining in on after school practice I'm being sent on some sort of mission again.'

And he was fairly certain that whatever Hiruma had in store for him would also involve Agon escorting him around, which might turn out to be even more awkward than it would have been considering what had went on the last time they had been alone together.

Of course there was a near microscopically small chance that Hiruma's plan wouldn't involve him dressing up to go spy on other teams, but Sena highly doubted it.

'Just as long as I don't have to miss my last period class again to get to wherever I'm going I'll be fine.'

He spent a solid two hours working on his homework before figuring he could start getting ready to go. He changed out of his Deimon uniform into a pair of more casual clothes, not wanting any of the first years on the team who weren't familiar with him to cause a raucous when they found out he didn't go to their school.

The trip to Oujou was long, quiet and ultimately uneventful and by the time he reached the school he was fairly certain practice would be wrapping up momentarily so he waited patiently by one of the entrances of the field for several minutes before, like he predicted, Oujou players began streaming out.

A couple of the older players nodded at him in recognition and one of the first years, a huge, malicious looking boy gave him a hard glare as he passed by.

Takami, as usual, was one of the last people to walk out and Sena was mildly surprised to see that neither Sakuraba nor Shin were with him.

The older boy saw him and approached him with a wan smile, making Sena wonder if it was still too soon for him to try and get his spirits up.

'Well, there's no time like the present.'

"Hey Takami-niichan, how's it going?" He asked rather lamely and Takami shrugged.

"I suppose it's going good enough, but once the Oujou University Silver Knights catch wind of our loss I'd imagine they'll have something to say about it. Nothing we can't handle though."

"I see." Sena shuddered a bit, Oujou's Golden Generation were terrifying enough when they were being normal, he never wanted to see what they were like when they were angry.

"So, where's Shin-san and Sakuraba-san? Or is Sakuraba-san still in the hospital?"

Takami's smile brightened considerably. "Sakuraba was officially released the day after the game. Shin's staying behind to train some more and Sakuraba has decided to try and keep up with Shin's training regimen."

"Really? Isn't that a bit reckless though? I mean, he just got out of the hospital."

"He'll be fine, he knows not to put himself under too much pressure after being confined to a bed for so long. It's nice to see him so pumped up about practice though. Apparently the boy who dragged him to the game is a big fan of his, saw him catch a really high pass during a game last year and started idolizing him for it and he still thinks he's great even after Sakuraba showed him his stats from past games."

Takami paused and adjusted his glasses, the lenses flashing almost eerily as they reflected light. "I think having someone who understands the game thinking of him as a hero is good for his self-esteem."

"Yeah, maybe now having all those girls think of him as an ace won't effect him as much." Sena nodded with a smile before remembered that Sakuraba's health hadn't been the only thing he wanted to talk about while he was here.

He opened his mouth to speak but Takami held up a hand to silence him.

"You don't have to say anything Sena. I know you well enough to know why you're here." His smile once again grew a little brighter. "Oujou will be stronger by the fall." He stated confidently. "I guarantee it."

"Oujou isn't the only one who'll become stronger, Deimon will give you a run for your money." Sena said good-naturedly.

"Of course, I heard about your tie with Taiyo, that's a rather significant feat for a team who lost in their second game of the season. Deimon seems to be growing at a fairly rapid rate."

Sena beamed proudly at the admission. "And Shin-san and Eyeshield promised that they'd meet at the finals, so there's no way we'll loose in the earlier rounds."

"We won't loose either."

They stood outside the entrance to the field for a while, speaking of things not directly related to football until they both decided it was time for them to head home.

'It's too bad Shin-san was busy practicing, I would have liked to talk to him for a bit, but I suppose he's recovering from the loss by improving himself. I wonder if Shin-san's parents ever worry about his borderline obsessive training habits?'

For some reason it was strangely hard trying to imagine what Shin's parents were like, maybe because Shin seemed so independent, or maybe because it was hard to imagine Shin taking after anyone.

'In any case, I think it's safe to say that the White Knights will restore their honor by the fall and then they'll become even harder to play against.'

When Sena arrived at home he was quickly ushered into the kitchen by his mother who sat him down at the table, flexing her fingers against his shoulders experimentally.

"Mom, what are you doing?"

"Agon-kun called me up and asked me to check out if one of your shoulders was still bothering you." Her fingers flexed and gripped a little harder than the first time before she let her hands fall away.

"It appears that you're all healed up, but really Sena, the next time you get hurt you should let someone take a look at it otherwise people will get worried." She chided him lightly before seating herself next to him.

"So, how did your little chat with Takami-kun go?"

"Pretty good I guess, he's not the type to let a losing game bother him for too long."

His mother nodded along in understanding. "He always did seem mature for his age, I suppose that aspect of his personality wouldn't change in the amount of time I haven't seen him." Mihae pouted slightly.

"Hey, Sena."

"Yeah mom?"

"Why don't you invite all of your friends over sometime? You never bring anyone over, the closest I've gotten to meeting your new friends is when that boy brought you home the other night, and he was hardly even here for a minute and he didn't even introduce himself."

"Juumonji-kun was the one who brought me home, and why are you so eager to meet my friends?" He asked, although he was fairly certain she just wanted to meet them in order to assure herself that he had them.

"It worries me that the only time you seem to spend with them is during practice or games. I know that sometimes after school when you don't have practice you'll go visit Takami-kun or Juri-chan, but do you ever hang out with your new friends after school?"

"Well... No, not really." Sena admitted and his mother sighed.

"Honestly Sena, this can't be good for your budding social life. Please bring a couple of your friends over. Please?" She clasped her hands together and Sena pursed his lips.

"But mom, we're going to have a big game coming up sometime soon."

"So? Just round up a bunch of them up after practice and drag them over here. Or I'll go over to Deimon and drag them over here after practice, you know I will if I have to." She said without a hint of remorse. "It would be like setting up a giant play date except with people you already know and I go directly to them instead of their mothers."

That was actually a kind of terrifying thought, his mother might end up scaring his friends away if she did something like that.

"Alright, I'll invite a couple people over when I have time." He relented and his mother smiled brightly.

'What have I just gotten myself into?'

"Now that we've had this talk I'm going to start supper, so you can go do whatever it is boys your age do these days."

"Um, alright." Sena stood up and exited the kitchen, moving to go up the stairs but pausing when he saw Pitt lazing about in the living room.

He stealthily snuck forward but Pitt heard him advance anyways and slowly turned to look at him before stretching out.

"Come here Pitt." He called softly, holding out a hand and wiggling his fingers.

Pitt's ears twitched, but she made no move to go towards him.

"Playing hard to get are you? I suppose I'll just have to put some actual effort into this then." He moved closer and scooped her up into his arms, stroking at her fur gently as she relaxed into his embrace and began to purr.

He wasn't exactly sure if this was what 'boys his age did these days' but this was probably more his style than whatever his mother, bless her strange but caring heart, thought he'd be up to.

The next day during morning practice Hiruma was in an awfully good mood and when Sena mustered up the courage to ask him about it he discovered that the completed video had been delivered to the Aliens' coach and viewed world-wide over the internet.

"Kekeke, they'll be coming over in a month, so I've got plenty of time to whip you all into shape."

"That's... Nice." Sena somehow managed to reply and Hiruma's current grin widened.

"I know, now get back to practice!"

By the end of practice Hiruma hadn't given him a letter to give to his history teach or ordered him to get to the clubhouse early, which ultimately meant that whatever Sena was going to do today, at least he wouldn't have to go too far away.

It was only during class that a rather unsettling thought struck him.

'If I have to dress up for this plan and I don't get out early to prepare for it, does that mean everyone's going to find out about_ this_?'

Or maybe Hiruma would be kind enough to let him take the clothes and change once he got close to wherever he was being sent?

By the time he made his way to the clubhouse after school he had come to the horrifying conclusion that there was no way Hiurma would be that considerate, not when he _knew_ Sena had already told two other members of the team about it.

But it seemed like Hiruma wasn't in a hurry to send him off on his mission, in fact, the first thing he did when everyone got in the clubhouse was force them to sit down, shut up and watch the finished version of the movie he had made.

'No wonder the coach changed his mind and decided to play against us, anyone with pride wouldn't turn down a challenge issued like this.'

And Apollo wasn't the only one who's pride was wounded by the contents of the video.

"_Muka_! Why did they give me a monkey's body?!" Monta whispered angrily from his spot beside him and Sena shrugged his shoulders.

"Well, at least you didn't get a chicken's body." He whispered back before turning his attention back on Hiruma.

"Alright, we've got one month to get ready to face this team, so the training from hell is going to begin now. Oh, and since coach Apollo went out of his way to bet that if he didn't win by ten points he'd never step on American soil again, I decided to do something similar." He pulled out a box labeled 'Passports'.

"If we don't beat the Americans by ten points, we all have to leave Japan. You have _one month _to prepare for the game that will determine your fate, so you'd _better_ practice with all you got! Now go get suited up." He ordered and as the others slowly made their way to the change room Sena went towards Hiruma, nervously twiddling his thumbs.

"Hiruma-san-"

"I'll send you off in a couple minutes, fucking dreads needs to get here before you can go, remember? For now just get into your track pants and do whatever until he comes to pick you up."

The two of them entered the change room to find that no changing was gong on due to Mamori's presence in the room.

Juumonji, Kuroki and Toganou seemed to be gawking at the fact that they each now had their very own locker, but most eyes in the room were riveted on Mamori and the object she was holding.

"Put that back fucking manager." Hiruma barked immediately once he saw the place kicking tee in her hands and Mamori's cheeks puffed out in anger.

"What's with that attitude? And I don't see where you get off with calling me that, I have a name you know."

"That tee belongs to Musashi." He responded and Mamori's demeanor immediately changed.

"I see." She carefully set it back down in the otherwise empty locker.

"Woah, that was an amazing kick!" Was shouted from somewhere outside the clubhouse and Kurita looked at the tee like it was some sort of sign.

"Musashi?" He mumbled under his breath before dashing outside, Monta and Sena close behind him.

'I really don't think Musashi-san would randomly start kicking balls around though.' Sena thoughts as he squeezed through the crowd, ignoring when one of the people from the soccer team tried to trip him.

When he finally got to the front of the group his eyes widened at what he saw.

'Did he just run here all the way from Bando?' He listened in for the sound of an electric guitar which he had no doubt he would hear if Akaba had, for some unfathomable reason, decided to follow Kotarou to Deimon.

The lack of musical notes floating through the air lead Sena to believe that Akaba wasn't on the premises, which was probably a good thing since he really didn't feel like trying to keep Kotarou from spitting all over the place.

After another perfect kick Kotarou turned around and, after running his comb through his hair several times, he looked up and pointed his comb at the crowd.

"You see that? Pretty smart huh?"

"You're not Musashi." Kurita said sadly and Kotarou cocked an eyebrow at him as Hiruma flipped through one of his many Devil's Handbooks.

"You're Kotarou Sasaki, the Bando Spiders' kicker right?" He asked and Kotarou didn't look too shocked about Hiruma knowing the information.

"His extra point conversion rate is... One hundred percent."

"My whole life I've never missed a kick, pretty smart right?" His gazed moved from Hiruma back towards the crowd and his eyes locked with Sena's.

"Hey Sena, the last time I asked you if you knew of a 'Sixty Yard Magnum' on your team you said you didn't know about it, but this time I've got a name to go with the nickname, Musashi." He said rather proudly. "So how about you bring him out and we'll see who the number one kicker really is?!" He demanded as he kicked another ball right down the center.

"Kotarou-san-" Sena began but Hiruma cut him off.

"If you're looking for Musashi, he already quit."

Kotarou whipped around. "What? Not smart!"

"Don't worry fucking sideburns, for now you're still number one." Hiruma said as he began walking away and Kotarou sputtered indignantly.

"Sena, he's not lying is he? You're not just hiding him from me are you?"

"Sorry Kotarou-san, but he's telling the truth." He responded as Mamori came up beside him.

"Sena, is this the Kotarou-kun that Juri-chan is friends with?" She asked lightly and Sena nodded, watching with interest as Mamori approached the boy who was currently combing through his hair furiously.

"Oi, fucking shrimp, your escort is here so hurry it up." Hiruma called from the clubhouse and Sena hurried over to him.

'Well, at least now I'll finally find out everything about what I'm going to do today.'

Or, to be more precise, he'd find out which team Hiruma was going to send him to spy on.


	51. Chapter 51

FASH: I've put up some more strange, random fanart in my scraps. There's a Mizu/Sena moment which most definitely will happen once I get to _that_ part (which will take a long while), an Akaba/Sena moment which might happen for amusement purposes, and an Agon/Sena moment that'll happen because if it doesn't I get the feeling I'll have bloodthirsty fans after me. I'll draw some Shin/Sena once I get some inspiration for it. There's a couple more Agon/Sena hints in this chapter, but we're going to get more Juumonji and Hiruma hints in the upcoming chapters during the Death March. Woo.

""-speech

''-thoughts

Sena nervously stepped inside the clubroom, eyes shifting to the duffle bag Hiruma was holding before moving to Agon.

"Hey Agon-san." He greeted softly and the older boy uncrossed his arms, moving his hands to rest on his hips.

"Is your shoulder feeling better now?" He asked and Sena nodded, about to tell him that it was a bit over the top for him to have called his mother so she could check him out, but Hiruma had already begun informing him of the plan.

"Apparently Kyoshin's got a new recruit and he and one of the other players are real freaks about practice, they'll go on for hours even after their teammates leave. We might as well scout these guys out in case we end up going up against them during the Tokyo Tournament." He explained smoothly as he held up the duffle bag. "Go change into this, then you can leave."

Sena lifted his hand to take the bag, but hesitated.

"Hiruma-san, do you think that maybe I could change after I leave?"

"Why?" Both Hiruma and Agon questioned, then they both sent badly concealed glares towards the other.

"Well, Kotarou-san is still here and years ago when I was forced into my first dress by Julie-neechan, Kotarou-san figured out I was a boy within a minute."

What a_ fond_ memory.

"If I go out like this he'll know it's me and then my identity would be compromised." 'And Julie-neechan might find out and then I'll have a lot of explaining to do.'

Hiruma snorted.

"_Back then _you didn't have a padded bra."

"_Back then _a girl my age wouldn't have needed a bra." 'I think.'

Agon huffed and re-crossed his arms. "Can we get going, I had to cancel a date to do this tonight."

"Oh, and I'm sure it was very important to you." Hiruma responded sarcastically as he tossed the bag in Sena's direction, the air in the clubhouse thickening with tension and barely restrained murderous intent.

"Just change before you get there fucking shrimp, and don't let anyone but _him_-" He pointed to Agon roughly. "See you before and after you change. Stick around to watch their practice as long as you deem necessary, but just remember that there will be no mercy if you're late for morning practice tomorrow."

"Right, I'll just get going then..." He swiftly turned around and opened the door but discovered that the way out had been partially blocked by Juumonji.

"You going somewhere?" He asked with a cocked eyebrow and Sena nodded sadly, hefting the duffle bag into the air.

"Scouting trip, joy of joys."

"Right, before you go to do that you might want to ask that kicking guy you seem to know about what Mamori-"

"Actually we're leaving now." Agon said harshly as he walked out of the clubhouse, practically shoving Juumonji aside in order to do so. "And we've got no time to spare."

Juumonji scowled darkly and made a move to follow Agon but Sena quickly tugged at one of his sleeves to keep him back.

"Sorry Juumonji-kun, I'll ask Kotarou-san about what Mamori-neechan told him later, okay?" He said before speeding forwards to catch up with Agon.

"But whatever she said really-" He sighed, Sena had already been able to make it past hearing distance. "Freaked him out."

The journey to Kyoshin was awkwardly silent, the only time it was broken was when Agon told him that they were getting close to the school and he'd need to change soon.

Now that was an experience Sena wouldn't be forgetting anytime soon, they had gone into a fast food place and Sena had to try and decided wether or not he should go into the male or female washroom.

'If someone sees me I either go in a pervert or come out a pervert. Which type of pervert do I want to be?'

"Just change in the guy's one, I'll stand guard to make sure no one else goes in while you're there." Agon muttered and Sena sighed in relief.

Going into a girls' bathroom with Maruko once was enough to last him a lifetime.

After checking to make sure the coast was clear Sena snuck into the bathroom, locked himself in a stall and slowly pulled out the contents of the duffle bag.

'I really don't see why I have to wear stuff like this, with Agon-san around I'm not going to get close enough for anyone to be able to tell if I'm male or female anyways.' He distractedly put the customary cap with hair on as he held up the baby blue tee-shirt and the dark blue jeans.

'On the bright side, it could have been a skirt.'

He slipped out of his uniform and donned the clothing with an ease he wouldn't admit to having, frowning a bit when he realized the jeans were a bit too big around the waist for him.

'I suppose Hiruma-san didn't pack me a belt.' He dug around the duffle bag in search of one futilely. 'I guess I'll just have to adjust them every once in a while then.'

He carefully snuck out of the bathroom, smiling nervously up at Agon who seemed to be warding people away with his mere presence.

"Alright, we're good to go now?" The older boy asked as he glared daggers at the majority of the people in the building.

'And this is where the awkward over protectiveness begins.' "Yeah, I'm as ready as you are." He replied and Agon dutifully began leading Sena over to Kyoshin, now easily visible as the building towered over the others it was surrounded by.

'If Hiruma-san ever needed to do another Tower of Hell and he wasn't able to reserve the Tokyo Tower the second time around he could just use this place.' Sena thought as he stared up at the building in wonder, snapping back to reality when he realized that Agon was ever so calmly walking onto the school grounds.

"Agon-san, get back here!" He demanded lowly and the other boy turned around, frowning.

"What, you need to get in close so you can see them right?"

"I can't get _that_ close with you here, you're too conspicuous."

Agon shuffled back towards him. "Well then, how exactly are you going to get close enough to see them practice, even with binoculars if a concrete wall is in the way you're not going get any information." He said lazily.

"Well, maybe I could climb a tree and-"

"No. No tree climbing is allowed on this expedition." Agon stated and Sena frowned.

"But it wasn't my fault that I fell last time, it was because one of the players threw a ball-"

"Some fucker threw a ball at you?! Who was it? I'll make him eat dirt!"

"Agon-san it wasn't his fault either! I'm pretty sure he wasn't aware that I was-" Sena was cut off as his cell phone began ringing and with a sigh he took hold of it and brought it up to his ear.

"Hello?"

"Hey Sena, guess what I found out." Juri said playfully from the other end and Sena almost dropped his phone.

'Please, please, _please_ don't let her know about_ this_.'

"What exactly did you find out Julie-neechan?" He asked, trying to sound calm but from the look Agon was giving him he was failing spectacularly.

'Maybe she got a hold of whatever information Mamori-neechan told Kotarou-san?' In that case he could rest easier because although Mamori knew about his scouting trips she didn't know the 'dress code' for them. But still, what could she possibly learn that would cause her to call him up out of the blue like this?

"Well, Kotarou told me that Mamori-chan told him that one of your teammates said you were hit on by a _guy_!" She said joyously. "Is that true?"

"... Why do you sound so happy about this?"

"Just answer the question!"

"... Yes." He admitted with a sigh and he winced when he heard Juri let out a fangirl-ish squeal and he quickly moved the cell phone away from his ear.

"Sena, who the hell are you talking to?" Agon asked curiously and Sena mouthed 'Julie-neechan' although he was fairly certain that Agon would still have no idea who he was talking about.

"Sena, was that a male voice I heard in the background?" Juri asked deviously. "Is it the guy who hit on you."

Sena stayed silent, cheeks slowly turning red.

"Oh my God! It is isn't it! Sena-"

The brunette swiftly flipped his phone shut and turned it off, Juri would forgive him for hanging up on her someday, he just couldn't put up with anymore of that.

"Alright, so now that your conversation is over with can we get back to figuring out how you're going to spy on this team?"

Sena nodded unenthusiastically, surely this was some sort of omen that the spying wouldn't go well, or maybe he was just being pessimistic.

'But the thing about being pessimistic is: either you're proven right or are pleasantly surprised.'

He desperately hoped he'd be the latter.

They ended up standing right by a fence encompassing Kyoshin, but although it was quiet easy to see the field from there that was merely because Kyoshin was on such a small amount of land.

So sure, Sena really didn't need to use binoculars to spy on them, but if he watched them too closely it would become blatantly obvious what he was doing.

Of course Agon didn't really care about all that. "If they try and give you hell about loitering then I'll give them hell for bothering us."

"Agon-san, that's really not the only problem with this." Sena said as he watched the group of players come back from their lap around the school, recognition dawning in his eyes.

"Oh God, why have you forsaken me?"

Agon scowled darkly. "Hey, what's that supposed to mean?"

"What, are you God now Agon-san?"

"Of course, didn't you know? That's why I'm always going up against that trash quarterback, clearly he's Satan." Agon said haughtily and Sena held a hand up against his mouth to muffle his laughter, but he quickly recovered.

"Really though, I've met a couple people from this team before, if they do see me loitering around and come up to me what happens if they recognize me?"

"Well, we could always play hooky." Agon suggested lightly and Sena blanched at the thought.

"You mean just leave without gathering any information?" He asked incredulously and Agon shrugged.

"Well yeah, if Hiruma wants information he can just get it himself, it's not like he'd have any trouble with it, besides, you need to have some fun once in a while. All you do is go to school, practice, scout and play, your social life is going to suffer."

"But I can't just abandon the mission, that's too reckless."

"It would do you some good to be a little more reckless." He took hold of Sena's hand and began tugging at it. "Come one, if he gets angry at you for doing this you can just blame me for it."

"But Agon-san, I really don't think we should." Sena pulled back but stumbled when Agon resumed tugging at his wrist.

"Bot your opinion has been over-ruled, now come on." He pulled a bit harder and Sena widened his stance to better brace himself.

"But _Agon-san_."

"Hey." A new voice cut in from nearby and Sena turned to see Kakei glaring at them from behind the fence.

'Oh no, he's seen us and now he's going to tell us we're disturbing practice and we'll have to leave and then Hiruma-san will be disappointed in me and-'

"Stop harassing the girl."

Sena flushed in embarrassment and Agon let go of his wrist to stare at the taller boy incredulously.

'Oh God, he thinks I'm some sort of helpless girl.'

Well, no point destroying his cover for something like pride, so he did something that he supposed a helpless girls would do in a situation like this.

He ran like the wind, easily ignoring Agon's call of his name and not slowing down until he'd turned onto a side street.

Considering the circumstances he could definitely forgive himself for running away, just this once, but Agon forgiving him would be a whole different matter though.

The older boy turned onto the street, a large frown spread across his lips.

"What the hell did you run off for? You do realize that by doing that instead of sticking around to say it was a misunderstanding you made me seem like some sort of creepy pervert with bad intentions."

Sena's eyebrows rose steadily.

"Which I sometimes am, but only with girls, actual girls."

Sena sighed. "Sorry Agon-san, it just seemed like the thing to do." The older boy snorted. "In any case, I'm not too keen on going back there by myself, since you obviously can't come with me." He said slowly. "So I guess we'll just have to do this some other time."

"Great, so we can go do something less boring now?" Agon asked hopefully and Sena pursed his lips together.

"Do you think that I should go back there and thank him for 'saving' me from you? You know, so I don't seem ungrateful."

Agon scoffed and lifted up his hands to cradle the back of his head. "Why bother? It would be weird if you went right now and by the time we come back again he'll probably have forgotten about this. Not to mention that I don't want you going anywhere near any member of the male population without me there to kick some ass if the need arises, so," He wrapped and arm around Sena's shoulder. "Since we can't go back for anymore spying and you might as well not go back for the very end of practice why don't we go paint the town red?"

"What am I, your backup date for tonight?" Sena quipped lightly and Agon stared down at him from over the frames of his glasses.

"I know I'm irresistible Sena, but I'm afraid I don't swing your way." He stated arrogantly and Sena resisted the strong urge to roll his eyes.

"Whatever, just lead the way oh irresistible one."

Agon would drag him away wether he wanted to go or not, so he might as well be willing.

'I just hope Hiruma-san doesn't kill me when he finds out that I didn't get any info on this team. But then again he should know that with Agon-san around it would be a lot harder for me to collect information.'

Apparently Agon's idea of 'painting the town red' was buying him a can of juice and sitting with him at a park to talk.

'Well, at least he's not doing anything illegal or violent.' And the tension between them had lessened greatly compared to the beginning of this expedition, so he supposed the day hadn't been a complete waste.

"Hey, why do you never come to mine and Unko-chan's school to hang out. You do it with the other kids your mom set you up on play dates with right? Why not with us?"

Sena twiddled his thumbs together nervously. "Well, I wasn't very close to you at first so it was always a bit easier for me to hang out with Takami-niichan or Julie-neechan. Plus you don't practice enough as it is, you don't need any more distractions."

"Aw, that's not fair, it's not like I need practice anyways." Agon boasted and Sena sighed.

"I really wish you would take the game more seriously Agon-san." He murmured before getting up and stretching his arms over his head then carefully adjusting his pants when they slipped down.

"I should get going now, wanna come stand guard for me at another public washroom so I can get out of this outfit?" He tugged at the tee-shirt with a frown and Agon nodded.

"Fine fine, I guess the sooner you get out of that the sooner I can stop murdering all the males around us with my eyes."

With Agon's help he was able to effectively change back into his normal clothes and not be deemed a pervert by any onlookers before making his way home. As soon as he entered the door his mother rushed towards him, frowning a bit when she saw he was the only one who came in.

"Still not bringing those friends of yours over?" She sighed and rested the back of her hand against her forehead dramatically. "You make your poor mother weep Sena, how could you be so cruel?"

Sena kicked off his shoes, fairly unconcerned with his mother's display.

"Oh, and Juri-chan called, she said something about trying to reach you but you had turned your cell phone off, what if it had been an emergency?"

"Trust me mom, what she wanted to talk about wasn't an emergency." He assured her and she crossed her arms.

"If you say so, but you'd better call her back, she seemed oddly energetic about whatever she was calling about."

"Yeah, I'll call her back." He agreed, although he'd much rather do it later, much later, after she'd had some time to calm down. Besides, it's not like it was actually important.


	52. Chapter 52

FASH: Akutan, your review gave me devious ideas for a chapter in the near future, and akuma-river, you're absolutely right! Although Juri is a bit one-sided in her matchmaking, she's all for Akaba.

""-speech

''-thoughts

Sena came to morning practice the next day only to have Monta furiously swing a yearbook at his face, Sena dodged it of course, but he couldn't help but wonder why Monta was attempting to break his nose.

"I figured it out! I totally figured it out to the max!" Monta cried as he swung the book around energetically.

"Monta, what exactly did you figure out?" Sena asked carefully from a safe distance away, he didn't want to get in too close in case Monta started waving it around again.

"Musashi-san! I figured out who Musashi-san is!"

Sena blinked at him, not entirely convinced. "You did? Really?"

"Yeah. You see I was asking Mamori-san about it after you left and, well, all I could get out of her before Hiruma-san dragged her away was that we had already met him. I was looking through this," He gestured at the yearbook before flipping in open. "Looking for any clues that might point to who Musashi-san is and look here!" He held up the book right in front of Sena's face.

"Muro Satoshi. _Mu_ro _Sa_to_shi_. Musashi. And he was the dude who tried to trip us yesterday, so he have sort of met him, plus under his personal introduction he said he left his first team!"

If Sena hadn't known any better he probably would have been convinced by that, but since he'd been enlightened by Mamori all those weeks ago he felt kind of bad that all of Monta's investigating had lead to a false conclusion.

He opened his mouth to tell Monta that Muro definitely wasn't Musashi but quickly snapped it shut.

If he told Monta then the other boy would probably want to know how he knew that and he considering the lack of information he'd gotten on Kyoshin he didn't need any other reasons for Hiruma to get angry at him today.

"Yeah, that sounds pretty accurate." He finally settled on saying and Monta beamed at him proudly.

'I guess I'll just have to go along with whatever comes from this new 'discovery'.'

Hiruma, as expected, was very displeased with his utter lack of progress and although running laps while being shot at was not the ideal way for Sena to spend his morning he supposed he deserved it.

Of course Mamori didn't think so and it didn't take long for her to approach Hiruma and Sena could practically see the steam coming from her ears.

"Stop picking on Sena! Just because he wasn't able to collect any information doesn't mean he should be subjected to this!" She yelled as se wrapped her arms around him protectively. "Next time you want Sena to go scout a team I'll go with him."

Hiruma blew a bubble and stayed silent, making it almost seem as if he were thinking over Mamori's offer.

"Say, where's Eyeshield 21?" He asked, throwing a meaningful look in Sena's direction.

"Oh, I think I saw him a while back, I'll go see if he's ready for practice."

He not so easily managed to slip out of Mamori's embrace and run off towards the clubroom and Mamori frowned slightly as she watched him leave.

"Why is it always Sena to go get Eyeshield-kun?" She asked out loud, clearly puzzled. "And why is it that once Eyeshield-kun comes to practice Sena is nowhere to be found?" She paused and pursed her lips together, then her features dawned with recognition.

"Could it possibly be-"

Hiruma tensed, eyes narrowing.

"That Eyeshield-kun is the boy who hit on Sena so while he doesn't want to stick around him for practice he's too nice to give him the cold shoulder so that's why he's always the one who fetches him?"

Hiruma relaxed and shrugged his shoulders, an amused smile on his face.

"Oh, who knows? Certainly not me."

Mamori frowned at him darkly. "Maybe I should go after him, just to make sure Eyeshield-kun doesn't try anything." She took a step forward but stopped when Hiruma told her too and she threw another look over her shoulder.

"Give me a good reason why I shouldn't follow after him."

"I don't think the fucking shrimp would enjoy your voyeurism, he can handle this himself."

The rest of practice went rather smoothly, although Sena was almost certain that Mamori had been giving 'Eyeshield-kun' strange looks for the better part of that morning.

He decided not to dwell on it.

School went by as it normally did and soon enough it was time for the afternoon practice, but instead of going straight to the clubhouse Monta dragged him over to the soccer field, seemingly unaware of the trouble they might get in for being late.

Monta watched with rapt fascination as Muro kicked a ball right past the goalie, breaking through the net.

"Let's go! Maximum persuasion!" He exclaimed and Sena's eyes nervously around the field.

'I don't want to do this.' He thought sadly, unaware of the person coming up behind him until a hand was laid against his shoulder.

He let out a mild sound of surprise as he whipped around to see Kotarou, cooly running a comb through his hair.

'Did he just sprint over here right after school again?'

"Kotarou-san, what are you doing here?"

"It's pretty obvious, huh? If we don't play to decide who's number one, that wouldn't be smart, right?"

"Th-that's why you're back?" Sena asked with wide eyes while Monta seemed to be getting pumped up by the older boy's appearance.

"Perfect timing! We're going to see Musashi-san, so you can throw down your challenge to him!" He said as he strolled forward, Kotarou following after him.

Sena sighed, but followed. 'I'm not too sure this is a good idea.'

They stopped by the soccer net, peering at Muro curiously as he spoke with one of his soccer pals who Sena vaguely recognized from the football tryout.

He couldn't quite hear what they were saying, but he did manage to catch something about Ishimaru begging him to stay when he quit.

'So he must have been on the track team.' He turned to see if Monta or Kotarou had caught any of that, and if the anger radiating off of them was any indication, they definitely had.

"That's not cool." Monta said through clenched teeth.

"He's the kind of guy who stomps on his friends' dreams." Kotarou said with an equal amount of anger before stepping out from behind the net and rushing towards the team, Monta not far behind him.

"Muro Satoshi!" He pointed directly at the other boy. "Let's have a kicking duel, then you'll no longer be known as the number one kicker!"

Sena could help but wonder how things had escalated so much from there. From Kotarou's declaration of a kicking duel to Monta's suggestion of a Penalty Kick Shootout to the bet that imminently followed.

In any case it didn't really matter how this had all progressed, because Sena needed to find two more players for a Penalty Kick Shootout and there was no one in the clubroom.

'This was really badly planned.'

"I think they've all gone running." The _real_ Musashi called from where he was renovating Cerberus's dog house, courtesy of the principal and their tie game against Taiyo.

"Wh-what are we gonna do?' He should have made Monta take back the bet, if they lost their team's field privileges Hiruma was going to murder them.

Musashi turned to look at him curiously and oddly enough Cerberus did likewise and a thought struck him.

'It's not like I'm asking him to play football again, so it's okay.'

"Musashi-san, do you think you could do me a favor?" He asked carefully and in some wonderful twist of fate Musashi nodded.

"Oh, thank goodness, come follow me! You too Cerberus."

Of course Kotarou and Monta didn't seem too impressed about the people, well, person and intelligent animal, that he had managed to round up.

It's not like it was his fault everyone left to do some running without them, besides, with Musashi _and_ Kotarou on their side how could they loose?

'If only they knew, well, they might figure it out after they see Musashi-san kick.'

First up for the soccer team was Miyake, the boy who Sena recognized from the football tryouts. Monta had decided to be goalie and while he was assuring the others that he'd be able to catch all the balls Miyake kicked.

Despite his attention not being completely on the task at hand Monta was still able to catch the ball, much to Miyake's shock.

Next up on their side was Kotarou and, needless to say, his kick managed to get it.

Then came Maitake and Monta once again easily caught the ball.

Then Cerberus was up and Sena, kind of under the impression that maybe he wasn't quite sane for thinking this would work, put a dog treat on top of the ball.

"Can you kick this for us?" He asked softly as Cerberus violently chomped down on the bone and turned around, beginning to eat at the same time as he started 'doing his business.'

Muro, who was being the goalie, seemed to find it hysterical and was completely unprepared for when Cerberus kicked the ball with his hind leg once he was finished.

With the score so far being two to nothing Sena couldn't help but think that, for something thrown together at the last minute, this team was pretty good.

Of course then if was Muro's turn to kick and he dealt out a curve ball, something that Monta was unable to deal with.

"Alright Sena, you're up next. Go out there and make us proud." Kotarou said as he pushed Sena forward.

"I'll try my best." He assured, running up to the ball and side shuffling in hopes that Muro wouldn't be able to tell where the kick would end up coming from. His efforts were pretty much wasted though when he settled on kicking it when it was directly in front of him, right into Muro's waiting hands.

Next up was the soccer team's co-captain and with another curve ball came another point scored for the soccer team.

"Oh no, the curve ball again!" Sena bit at his lip nervously and beside him Kotarou clenched his fists.

"Whoa, what's he doing? What happened to the master receiver?!"

"That guy, he's quick to grab any ball moving in a straight trajectory. But if the ball has any spin on it he's worse than an amateur." Musashi commented and both Sena and Kotarou turned to look at him.

And apparently Monta had as little control when he was kicking as he did with throwing because when it was finally his turn the ball ended up swerving to the side and crashed into on of the school's windows.

"He'd never make it as a goalie." Kotarou commented dryly as he watched the glass fall.

The soccer team's captain's kick was good and then it was time for Musashi to show them what he was made of.

"Please, please try your best, I know kicking a soccer ball isn't quite the same, but you've got to get it in so we can break even." Sena said imploringly as Musashi stood up and Monta gave him a scrutinizing look.

"Hey mister, have you ever kicked a soccer ball before?"

"Nope, not once." He replied truthfully and from his spot in the net Muro laughed darkly.

"Ha! Your field is ours."

"You mean if you lose this you can't practice?" Musashi directed the question towards Sena and he nodded sadly.

"Yeah, that about sums it up."

Musashi, with a sense of duty, took his stance and Kotarou paused the combing of his hair to look at the way he was standing a little closer.

"Your last shot is this amateur dude?" Muro scoffed. "This'll be a piece of cake."

But in the span of five seconds he was proven wrong, _very wrong_. Not only had the strength behind the ball torn open a hole in the net, but Muro himself had been pushed back into the hole, dangling from it loosely.

Kotarou actually dropped his comb in shock. "... Number one... Kicker..." He pointed at Musashi and with a burst of energy declared: "My name is Sasaki Kotarou! What about you mister? What's your name?!"

Musashi turned to face him. "Takekura Gen, but if you prefer, you can call me Musashi." He 'hmm'ed to himself. "That name brings back memories. Now that I've quit school, hardly anybody calls me that."

"Hmm? Wait a sec. This Musashi guy was in his first year last year right?" Kotarou questioned as he rubbed at his chin thoughtfully.

Sena smiled lightly when Monta and Kotarou rushed forward and incredulously asked Musashi if he was seventeen.

"_Sena!_"

'Oh, that's strange, I kind of thought that I heard Julie-neechan call my name for a second there.'

"_Hey Sena!_" This time the distinctly female voice was accompanied by the strum of a guitar.

'Oh dear, I have a bad feeling about this.' He slowly turned around to see Juri and Akaba walking towards him, the smile on Juri's face was so wide it was scary.

"Sena, you didn't call me back last night, that's really too bad, otherwise you would have been more prepared for then we came over to visit." She said, wrapping an arm around Sena in a half hug.

'I wonder if this is her way of getting back at me for hanging up on her.'

"Hey, is that Kotarou over there?" Juri detached herself from Sena and frowned as she walked towards her childhood friend.

"Kotarou you idiot! You knew I was going to be coming here today, why didn't you wait for me so we could all walk together?!"

Akaba settled himself beside Sena, softly running his fingers over the strings of his guitar.

"Fuu, some things never change." He said as he glanced at the now quarreling pair and Sena nodded in agreement mutely.

"Sena! Guess what, guess what!" Monta rushed up to him, seemingly unaware of Akaba's presence.

"I got Musashi-san to promise that he'd think about re-joining the team if we get stronger!" He said excitedly.

"That's great... But just thinking about it doesn't mean he'll end up joining."

Monta deflated slightly. "Yeah, but then if we beat the Americans there's no way..." He trailed off and looked at Akaba for the first time since he got there. "Who are you?"

Akaba, instead of properly answering, strummed his guitar.

"Stop doing that!" Kotarou demanded as he and Juri moved towards them.

"This is Akaba-san, he's on the same team as Kotarou-san." Sena said since it seemed like Akaba didn't feel like introducing himself, although Sena couldn't be sure if playing his guitar was simply a prelude to his introduction.

"Right. So who's she?"

"I'm Sawai Juri, manager of the Bando Spiders and unintentional keeper of Koratou since childhood."

"Hey-" Kotarou began to protest but it was cut off when one of Juri's hands took hold of his jaw.

"And you are?" She asked sweetly.

"Raimon Taro, receiver for the Devil Bats, most people nowadays call me Monta." He replied proudly.

"Really? I have a nick name too, most people call me Julie."

'Well, this seems to be going okay. Although once everyone else comes back this might turn out to be a bit awkward.' He snapped back to reality when he heard Juri call his name.

"What is it Julie-neechan?"

"Oh, don't play dumb Sena, you know exactly what I want to talk about." She purred deviously and Sena blanched, fearfully realizing that he did know _exactly_ what she was going to want to talk about.

'Damn it.'


	53. Chapter 53

FASH: Hiruma secretly has a fetish for Sena in girl's clothing, that must be the reason why he's always making the poor boy crossdress!

""-speech

''-thoughts

"Can't we talk about that in private?" He asked, trying not to sound too hopeful.

"Oh, I tried that before, but apparently our connection went bad, remember?" She asked a little too sweetly and Monta took a cautious step away from her.

"Besides, as your older sister figure I have every right to know about these situations, especially when I know who you have a crush on." She said proudly and Sena's eyebrows rose in confusion.

"I have a crush on someone?"

Juri nodded vigorously and Kotarou frowned at her.

"This is one of your weird _things _isn't it? Like what you were doing when I first met him." He threw Sena a sympathetic look that just screamed 'poor kid'.

"It's not a weird 'thing' and it's completely true!" She clasped her hands together and sighed dreamily. "I'll never forget when it happened, it seems like so long ago, because in essence it was. You wanted to speak with him after practice, when I started asking you why you started blushing, it was just too cute!"

'I needed to talk to someone after practice?' He vaguely remembered going over to Bando near the beginning of the school year, wanting to talk to Akaba about Eyeshield stuff...

'Oh God.' He threw a rather disturbed, and hopefully well concealed, look over at Akaba and Juri giggled lightly from behind her hand.

"Julie-neechan, you've got it all wrong." He explained and Kotarou nodded in agreement.

"You're just delusional."

"Oh, I'm pretty sure I'm not." She placed her hands on her hips and turned to look at Akaba, who had finally put away his guitar, victoriously. "Go Akaba! Go!"

The redhead raised an eyebrow. "I fail to see the point of this as I am quite certain that-"

"Don't question anything, just do it!"

"Fuu." Akaba sighed dramatically before stepping forward, taking one of Sena's hands into his while the other was set on his side without warning and then pushed Sena back into a dip.

"A-Akaba-san!" Sena arched his back and stretched out one leg in an attempt to straighten himself out as he averted his eyes, not entirely wanting to see the expression Akaba had on his face while doing something like this.

"Akaba you bastard, not smart!" Kotarou rushed forward and tore Sena away from the other boy, pushing Sena behind himself in a protective gesture as he angrily pointed his comb at Juri and Akaba.

"You two are bad influences on his impressionable mind! And you!" The comb flicked over to Monta. "How could you just stand by as your teammate becomes corrupted?! Not smart!"

"Uh, I don't really have any idea what's going on with you all, but I don't really think that's how people are corrupted." Monta said dryly and Akaba stepped back, apparently unconcerned about the mental trauma he may have just put Sena through.

Juri pouted. "Kotarou, what did you go an do a thing like that for?"

"That's it, we're all going home right now before either of you breaks Sena's brain." Kotarou managed to say through ground teeth and Juri sighed.

"Fine, fine, just don't spit at me."

Monta watched as Kotarou rounded up the other two in something akin to awe.

"Sena, you've got some pretty strange friends." He whispered lowly.

"Well, at least there's never a boring moment with them around right? Anyways we'd better go change into our regular uniforms and start practicing before the others come back from their jog, then Hiruma-san will have one less thing to shoot us about."

" Alright, down with the Aliens! We've got to bring back Musashi-san!"

They hadn't been at it for too long when the others arrived and, much to their surprise, Hiruma didn't start shooting at them for missing the jog.

After a rigorous practice Hiruma called everyone back into the clubhouse in order to unveil a special strategy to defeat the Aliens.

Pretzel sticks.

"What do pretzel sticks have to do with anything?" Monta had asked curiously as he held one up for inspecting.

"We'll get to that." Hiruma replied cooly as he cocked his gun. "With one month left before the Aliens game we're gonna grind through the ABCs of defense!"

Kurita held up a globe, pointing to America nervously. "Where they come from our opponents are the best team around, so we won't be able to win if we just stick with the same old strategy."

Hiruma turned on his laptop and footage of the NASA Aliens began playing on the screen.

"Their weakness is their coach, Apollo... He's so clueless, that fucking scumbag. He uses Panther as a ball boy."

"... Panther-kun?" "Who's that?" Sena and Monta asked with wide eyes and Hiruma cackled, hooking up his laptop to the projector so everyone could get a good look at it.

Sena watched the boy on the screen in awe. 'He's not just fast, he's extremely light footed. Could there be another runner like me in the world? How would we compare... If we went head to head?'

But that just wasn't possible right? Because their coach wasn't utilizing him.

'But maybe, maybe if we can manage to not just hold our own against them, but start winning against them he'll have no other choice but to let Panther-kun play.'

"And as for the pretzels..."

Once again when Sena came home that night his mother ran to the door, only to sigh in disappointment when she saw that Sena had come home alone.

"Sena." She nearly whined at him. "Why aren't you bringing any of your friends over?"

Thankfully his father had come out to intervene before she got too depressed about it.

"I'm sure practice is very tough on the team and they just feel like going home and resting up once it's over. Don't you think it's a bit too much to ask that they drag themselves over here?"

"No." She replied in all seriousness.

"Look, how about they come over sometime after their big game, is that okay with you Sena?" He asked and his son nodded quickly.

"There, now that everything is settled..." He walked into the living room, attempting to ignore his wife's complaining about wanting to see Sena's friends sooner.

'Well at least that conflict has been resolved for now.'

Now he was going to have to make sure that Deimon won by at least ten because if they ended up leaving the country after the game and his mother had to wait even longer to meet his friends who knew what would happen.

The next morning he was startled awake by the sudden ringing of his cell phone. After the initial shock wore off he slowly turned to his alarm clock and frowned.

Who the heck would call him at four o' clock in the morning?

He stumbled out of bed, nearly tripping over his own feet several times before he reached his school bag and dug into if for his cell.

Then the ringing stopped.

He slumped over and glared at the phone in his hand sleepily. 'Why would anyone call me this early?' He flipped it open to discover the number of the person who had called him, then the phone began ringing again.

He held it to his ear, blinking in confusion when he heard music coming from the other end.

"Hello?" He managed to croak out.

"Hey Sena, I just thought of something."

"... Agon-san, why are you calling me this early in the morning, and where are you?"

"What, it's morning already?" The older boy seemed surprised and Sena sighed.

"Yes, it's been morning for several hours now, can we please talk later, I'm still tired and I don't want to be up." He slowly moved back to his bed, once again nearly tripping over his feet on the way.

"Nah, this'll just take a sec." Agon responded before suddenly all the background noise from before was gone.

Sena yawned and stretched out on his bed.

"Okay, so here's the deal, I'll go to afternoon practice tomorrow, or today, whatever, but only if you come over to watch like you do with those other guys."

"Agon-san, I can't do that, I have practice too you know and Hiruma-san really wouldn't appreciate me skipping it for you." Sena responded slowly, fighting to keep his eyes open.

"Ha, as if I care if he appreciates it."

There was a shout of Agon's name in the background, a bit blurry but distinctly female.

"Dammit, look Sena I'll call you back soon, I've got something I need to take care of."

"Please, don't rush on my account." Sena said dryly before shutting off his phone and burrowing back under his covers.

'Man, I'm going to have to start turning off my phone before I go to bed, I don't want late night/early morning calls to become a habit... Agon-san sure does move from one girl to another fast. I'll have to make sure he never sets his sights on Mamori-neechan.'

A little more than an hour later and Sena woke up to the sound of his alarm clock, which he glared at for nearly a minute before turning it off.

Agon's surprise call really hadn't made him loose too much sleep, but it was enough to make him feel a bit off as he walked to morning practice.

Well, at least he still hadn't tripped over his own feet, that would just be embarrassing.

He had just entered the clubhouse, greeting Kurita and Hiruma tiredly when his phone rang again and he had the feeling he already knew who it was.

He flipped it open and without even bothering to look at the caller ID he began. "Hi Agon-san."

Hiruma's ears twitched.

"Hey Sena, I know that if it's just me asking you won't do it because you care to much about the ramifications, but there's someone else who thinks you should come over." Agon said in a sing song voice, oddly cheery for someone who probably hadn't had any sleep.

"Sena?"

"Unsui-san?" Sena blinked quickly. 'Did Agon-san actually ask Unsui-san for his help in order to convince me to watch their practice?' His eyebrows drew together in confusion. 'This just doesn't make sense.'

"Look, I know it's really selfish of me to ask this of you, especially since you do have your own practice, but Agon says that he'll actually practice if you come over."

"Really? Are you sure he's not lying?" He asked, wincing a bit when there was a shout of 'why would he ask that?' in the background and cautiously shuffling to the side when he noticed that Hiruma was walking towards him.

"He seems pretty sincere." Unsui said slowly just as Hiruma swiped the phone away from Sena's hand.

"_Hiruma-san_."

"Hey, get you're brother on the phone, I think we may be able to come to an understanding." Hiruma cackled and Sena stared at him in shock.

"Hiruma-san, I can't go over there, I have to practice." He said but Hiruma just ignored him, a large grin spreading across his face as he walked into the empty change room, closing the door behind him.

"Don't worry Sena-kun, I'm sure Hiruma-kun will make sure everything's okay." Kurita said with a smile that made good will radiate around him like a saintly aura. Completely opposite to the person he was talking about.

"If you say so..." Sena responded doubtfully as he stared at the door Hiruma had gone through, not entirely sure if he should be insulted that he was being left out of the current conversation on his phone.

Just a little more than a minute later Hiruma stalked out the change room, looking distinctly displeased.

"Uh, how did it go?" Sena asked lamely and Hiruma growled.

"I figured that if I let you go over there we could terminate our earlier agreement about him always going with you while you spy, since that generally seems to make you even worse at it, but the fucking dreads won't agree to it." Hiruma ran a hand through his hair as he tossed the phone back to Sena.

"Well, if I do end up going, at least I'll be, you know, 'normal', right?" He asked hopefully and Hiruma slowly turned to face him, a diabolical grin spreading across his lips.

"That's a great idea, fucking shrimp."

"It is? What is? Why?"

"Because fucking dreads is getting what he wants, but it's always fun to piss him off a bit so I might as well send you all nice and dressed up into what is, essentially, a dwelling for sexually repressed teenaged boys."

Kurita, who was still in the room, looked at Hiruma warily.

"Hiruma-kun, what do you mean by that?"

"Oh, don't worry about, the only people who are going to have to worry about it are him," He pointed at Sena. "And the Kongo brothers."

"You can't be serious! I could get violated!"

"I'm sure you could outrun any of the guys there, not to mention fucking dreads will probably loudly let everyone know that if they get close to you he'll kill them."

"Why do you want me to go anyways? I could just not go and then Agon-san would still be angry."

"Yes, but then I wouldn't have an easy way to spy on the Naga's practice."

"... Wonderful, it's good to know that you care about my well being to this extent Hiruma-san." Sena sighed and Hiruma wrapped an arm around his shoulders.

"Don't worry about it fucking shrimp, I'm sure that in order to assure your safety you'll become fucking dreads' temporary girlfriend."

"WHAT?"

"Um, Hiruma-kun, Sena-kun can't become someone's girlfriend."

"Oh, he can and he will. Unless he wants to be punished for skipping the jog yesterday. Is that what you want _Sena_?" He asked lowly and Sena quickly shook his head.

'I'm sure I'll be okay, after this I can just go crawl under a rock and die so that I never have to face Agon-san or Unsui-san again.'

He once again received the letter to give to his history teacher, although considering that Shinryuji was a lot closer than Hakushu he wouldn't have to leave until class was halfway over.

"I'll be waiting for you to get here, since this is going to be a very important mission and men are perverts I'm going to be tagging along."

"Really? So if anyone with bad intentions get too close you'll just shoot at them?" What a relief, as embarrassing as it was going to be, walking around with Hiruma while he was all dolled up, at least he wasn't going to get cornered by some sleazy man.

But that didn't mean he had to like it.

"Alright fucking fatty, you're going to leading practice after school today, if anyone asks where we are, tell them that _they don't need to know_."

God, today was turning out to be such a drag, first that early morning wake up call, then discovering that he'd be going to Shinryuji in girls clothing, apparently would be Agon's temporary girlfriend, although really all of Agon's girlfriends were temporary so that wasn't a big step away, except unlike all the other girls Agon went out with Sena certainly wasn't going to be giving him any sex.

And Hiruma was going to be coming along too, great.

At least practice was going by normally, although once again Sena couldn't help but notice that while he was in his uniform Mamori was giving him strange looks, like she had a couple days earlier.

'I really hope she's not catching on to me.'

School was graciously normal too, until of course, he had to go up to his history teacher and sadly present the note to her.

Then it was time for the moment of truth, he walked out of the school and went towards the clubhouse, opening the door cautiously and peering inside as if he expected a serial killer to jump out at him at any moment. Which really wasn't entirely too much of an exaggeration.

Hiruma turned to look at him, grinning deviously and a bag of cosmetics in his hand.

'Oh, I'm not going to like this.'


	54. Chapter 54

FASH: Akutan, that was so awesome, and if you ever want to give me random suggestions feel free to do so! And Lazy-ass-Ninja, I promise that someday Sena's going to have the most awesome disguise ever! But that's not for a while yet, after the game against the Americans. And Petshop, you're just like me! I have a main character pairing complex too! And no one ever mentioned the Blondes thing before, but now that you mention it... Woah...

""-speech

''-thoughts

"Hiruma-san, I really hope that's not what I think it is."

"Why? Worried that you'll turn out even girlier than usual?"

"No." Sena responded sternly, although inside his head the resounding answer was: 'Yes!' "I just don't want the small bit of my masculinity that's left to be compromised by this."

"Too bad, I happen to love it when things get compromised, so you'll just have to live with it. Now then, does your skin tone go better with gold or silver? And would warm or cool colours look better on you?"

"... You don't actually expect me to know the answers to those questions do you?" Sena threw Hiruma a suspicious look as the other boy seemed to produce a magazine out of thin air and began flipping through the pages rapidly, pausing every once in a while to give Sena a hard, calculating look.

"Alright, I've figured it all out." Hiruma cackled and Sena's shoulders drooped as the older boy took his hand and dragged him closer.

'I'm really beginning to get the feeling that Hiruma-san enjoys this way more then he should.'

"Why do I have to wear make-up and jewelry this time around anyways? I never did before and no one caught on to my real gender, so I really doubt this is going to make a difference."

Unless this was another thing that would piss Agon off and Hiruma felt like exploiting it to it's full potential.

"Fucking dreads usually goes for one type of girl and what you look like is definitely not it, so unless we want some of the Nagas getting suspicious we need to make you less rough around the edges." Hiruma explained with and air of expertise and although Sena really doubted any of the Nagas would dare begin doubting what Agon had to say he figured he might as well go along with what Hiruma was saying.

'Darn it, I think I'm getting a bit too used to this.' Sena frowned as Hiruma clipped fake, gold earrings onto his ears and began digging through the small cosmetic bag, grinning victoriously when he grabbed a hold of whatever it was he was looking for.

The next ten minutes freakishly reminded Sena of the time Juri had done this, although it was a lot scarier when Hiruma tried doing his mascara because, quite frankly, Sena trusted Hiruma a lot less than he would have trusted a girl for this task.

"Alright, now for your hair." He turned around and grabbed a bottle, shaking it nonchalantly before tipping it over and spraying a handful of whatever it was into his hand.

"Wait a minute, why am I not wearing a hat today? I always wear a hat."

"Because those hats annoy me." Hiruma replied simply as he began spreading the stuff through Sena's hair, presumably to keep his gravity defying spikes from spiking up, and then clipping a couple locks in place.

With every passing moment Sena was becoming increasingly sure that Hiruma was just taking what Juri had done to him nearly two years ago and 'improving' upon it.

That theory was proven _absolutely right_ when Sena was forced into a green sun-dress that ended just a little higher over his knees than he would have liked. Add on a pair of knee high socks and a pair of black, dressy shoes and Sena felt about ready to keel over to save himself the oncoming embarrassment.

Agon might recover from this, since he already knew that Sena had to put up with this sort of thing, but Unsui, as far as Sena knew, had no idea.

'Well, just as long as I don't give anyone a heart attack.'

The trip to Shinryuji was awkward to say the least, with Hiruma constantly giving out warnings to 'keep guys from flipping your skirt' and 'if there's a stiff breeze, make sure the material doesn't blow up'.

It was almost a relief when they started walking up the massive amount of stairs to get to Shinryuji, almost, because as soon as they reached the school Hiruma was going to end up going into hiding so that he could watch the practice in a secluded area and then Sena was going to have to deal with Agon and Unsui's reactions all alone.

"Alright, so here's what's going down. I'm going to escort you to whichever Kongo brother is the closest, then I'm going to 'disappear', you don't really have to pay attention to the practice since I'll be recording everything important and I really don't think you want to watch your boyfriend become an egotistical maniac, not that he isn't already, but it'll be more obvious."

"Okay, one: Agon-san is not my boyfriend, you just seem to think he's going to pretend to be it for some reason. Two: I-"

"Hey!" Hiruma called out once they reached the top of the stairs and Unsui slowly turned, nodding at Hiruma in greeting before his eyes landed on Sena and he seemingly began to choke on the air.

"Se... Na?"

"Yeah, that would be me." The younger boy responded with a sigh and Hiruma cackled as Unsui threw a couple cautious looks over his shoulder.

"I don't know if this was part of the deal Agon requested, but I really don't think you should be here while looking like that." He threw another cautious look in the direction of the field where his teammates were beginning to gather before turning back to the brunette.

"I don't know if you're aware of this, but students at all boys' schools tend to be a bit... Repressed and, well... This is the equivalent of throwing a helpless little creature into a den of lions." He said lowly and Sena slumped at the comparison.

"Yeah, Hiruma-san covered that with me and said..." Sena paused, not wanting to tell Unsui about this 'temporary girlfriend' business that Hiruma had come up with. "You and Agon-san would make sure that I'll be alright."

"Where did Hiruma go anyways?"

Sena swiftly looked around, the blonde was no where in sight.

'It's kind of scary how easily he can creep away.'

"I guess he figured I was safe in your hands."

"Right, well as long as Agon asks him to the coach should be able to keep the guys under control for the most part and Agon and I should be able to keep their minds from running wild." Unsui sighed. "I really would suggest that you don't make dressing like this a habit though, boys are perverts."

Sena opened his mouth to reply that _he_ was a boy and _he_ wasn't a pervert, despite being dressed in girl's clothing, but he snapped it back shut when he heard Agon's voice coming from behind him.

"I suppose this is exactly who I think it is?" He asked dryly, sounding a bit tired and Sena turned to give him a look.

"Woah, nice makeup, if I didn't know any better I'd think you were actually a girl." His eyes narrowed slightly and the tiredness seeped out of his voice. "Why the fuck are you like this anyways?" He asked although Sena was fairly certain he knew the answer.

"Does it really matter? Just..." Sena blushed and averted his eyes. "Protect me from the perverts... Oh, and please, never call me at four in the morning again, you're screwing up my sleep pattern."

Unsui coughed into his fist discreetly. "Agon, I thought you said that you came home and were in bed before two."

"Time flies when you're having fun, besides, I still got a couple hours of sleep, I'll be fine." He said arrogantly and Sena rolled his eyes.

'You may be fine with just a couple hours, but some people need a bit more than that to be able to make it through the day without tripping over themselves.'

"Agon, we'd better get going now."

"Right, I'll go tell the coach that Sena is my special guest and he'd better not kick 'her' out while we suit up."

The three of them started walking towards the field and Unsui gave Sena and concerned look.

"Maybe we should tell the other guys that Sena is off limits before we change? Just so he's not left on the sidelines with a bunch of boys lusting after him."

Agon adjusted his glasses and sneered at the thought. "You bring up a good point Unko-chan." He wrapped an arm around Sena's shoulders and pulled the reluctant boy a bit closer to him.

'I don't think I like where this is headed.' Sena thought as he blushed darkly and vainly attempted to get a little space between them.

"Oi!" The dread-head called loudly and immediately everyone's attention was riveted on him, fear or shock shown clearly on the majority of the faces. Then Agon held Sena even tighter against his side, as if he was afraid that Sena would somehow break out of his iron hold and run away.

'Oh, I definitely don't like where this is headed.'

"This is my new girl, so hands off if you don't want me to break each of your fingers."

Sena blushed more than he thought was physically possible and he was absolutely certain that Hiruma was watching him from somewhere and finding this far more amusing than he should.

"A-Agon-san, did you have to say that?" Sena whispered lowly and the older boy smirked back in an almost infuriating manner.

"Don't worry, I'm straight, remember? This is just the easiest way to make sure these womanizers keep their dirty paws off of you."

'You're the womanizer.' Sena frowned as he was lead over to a bench, the blush on his face fading slightly, but it was still quite visible.

'I wish Hiruma-san hadn't been right about the girlfriend thing.' He settled himself on the bench and toyed with the hem of his sun-dress nervously as Agon and Unsui left to get their gear on. He could feel the stares being directed at him and he _did not like it. _

'I am never coming back here ever again.'

This was way too awkward, especially when several of Agon and Unsui's teammates, third years by the looks of it, started up a conversation, apparently not realizing that they weren't nearly far enough away for Sena to not be able to hear them.

"She doesn't look like his usual type does she?"

"No, but damn is she cute. She looks really innocent too, think she's still... You know?"

"She won't be by the time Agon's done with her."

"Dammit, what does he got that I don't? When is my chance to get intimate with a cute virgin girl going to happen?"

The blush that had just about faded completely came back full force and Sena was thankful that he was looking down so that they wouldn't be able to tell that he was blushing because they were talking _way too loud_, that would have been far more awkward than just having to hear them.

'God, these guys _are_ perverts. Agon-san would have to drag me kicking and screaming if he ever wanted me to come back here.'

The Nagas' practice was everything Sena thought it would be, it was like watching a team made up of a bunch of hard working Shins and one show off.

By the time the practice finally ended, they practiced _even longer _than Oujou, Sena was just itching to get out of there, he'd been on the receiving end of way too many badly concealed stares and he did not want to go through any more of it.

Agon apparently had other plans and was keen on having Sena stay even longer.

"Come on Sena." He gripped Sena's hands and pulled the younger boy up off of the bench. "It's not like staying a little later is going to kill you."

But all the pervy stares he was getting might be the death of him, thankfully Unsui was around to share his big-brotherly wisdom.

"Agon, considering how little sleep you must have gotten last night I really think that you shouldn't strain yourself, not to mention that if Sena stays here much longer I think he's going to be scarred for life by the way people are looking at him."

'Unsui-san, my hero.'

"What? Who's been giving him looks?!" Agon turned around to shoot death glares at his retreating teammates and Sena swore that he saw some of them shudder, instinctively knowing that murderous intent was being directed at them.

"Agon, calm down, the lack of sleep is making you easily irritated." Unsui said calmly and Sena rose his eyebrows in mild disbelief.

"Yeah, so you should get to bed fucking dreads." Came Hiruma's voice out of no where and Sena let out a shrill shriek before clamping his hand over his mouth, blushing for what seemed like the hundredth time that day.

"You!" Agon pointed a finger at the blonde accusingly. "What the hell did you have Sena dress up like that for?!"

"Doesn't it make more sense for you to bring a girl to watch you practice? Honestly, what would your teammates think if you brought a _boy_ with you?"

"It doesn't matter because I'd beat their faces in before they could even begin to think that I wasn't straight."

"You know, for someone who's supposedly straight you sure are pretty sensitive about this topic. Tying to hide something?"

"For someone who's supposedly straight you sure like dressing up Sena in girls' clothing. Trying to make yourself feel better by pretending he's female?"

Sena and Unsui blanched at both comments while Agon and Hiruma just got angrier.

Hiruma whipped out a pistol, twirling it around in his hand with ease. "Fucking dreads! You're so far in the closet you're in Narnia!"

Agon cracked his knuckles and sneered. "Fucking trash! You're so far in the closet that you're at Monst-"

"Enough already, stop talking about how far in the closet you are!" Sena demanded and both Hiruma and Agon turned to look at him for a long moment before turning back to the other.

"Monsters Inc."

"Oh yeah? Well you've been in there so long-"

"Unsui-san, please make them stop, this conversation is getting a bit loud and I think some of your teammates are starting to listen in."

Not to mention it was kind of creepy to think that Agon and Hiruma both thought that the other had some sort of weird crush on him.

"I'll do what I can." The older boy promised before moving forward, stepping between the quarreling pair and holding up his hands.

"Agon, stop this childish display, you're attracting unwanted attention and anymore of this closet business and people will catch on that Sena's not a girl. Hiruma, you've already gathered your information, I think it would be best if you left. And take Sena with you, please, before it's _too late_."

"Fine, let's get going fucking shrimp, before fucking dreads loses it."

Agon growled in response. "Sena, remember if he ever does anything to you just tell me and I'll take care of him."

Sena blushed hotly as he and Hiruma walked away.

'Their overprotectiveness would actually be kind of sweet, considering who they are and everything, too bad they keep on acting like I'm going to get sexually assaulted.'


	55. Chapter 55

FASH: Woah, a boy reviewed! I feel kind of awesome right now... Anyways, this is going to be my last chapter for a while because tomorrow I'll be on a plane headed for _Ireland _and I won't be able to update for nearly two weeks. (Unless I suffer from a horrible accident, but let's try and be optimistic.) In any case, I hope you like this chapter and I hope no one goes insane from lack of updates while I'm gone.

""-speech

''-thoughts

The trip back to Deimon was turning out to be far more awkward than the walk towards Shinryuji had been since Hiruma was still radiating anger from his argument with Agon. As a result Sena slowed down, wanting Hiruma to walk far enough ahead of him that he didn't feel like his life was in immediate danger.

Apparently that was a bad move on his part because without Hiruma standing beside him like an irritable guard dog ready to attack Sena was just a cute 'girl' walking down the street with a pair of shoes that were really starting to get uncomfortable. Thus he was 'easy prey.'

It was only Sena's sixth sense created by his bullying that alerted him to the person behind him that kept him from being caught the first time around. He had quickly sidestepped the arm that was trying to wrap around his shoulders, but he was unprepared for the leg the swept out to the side and he stumbled a bit when he tripped over it.

The arm that had previously been trying to wrap around his shoulders lashed out to grab onto his arm before he fell, but he was not thankful for that at all, because now he was caught.

Without even bothering to look at his assailant he let out a shriek and Hiruma turned around, guns at the ready.

But before he could even begin shooting a blue blur rushed past him, barreling straight towards the man, who's grip had loosened considerably when he saw someone heading strait for him.

Sena winced in sympathy as the person beside him experienced the full force of a Spear Tackle without any protective gear on. That would probably bruise his ribs _at least_.

Shin flexed his fingers experimentally and glared down at the man before turning to look at Sena curiously, apparently the only time he ever bothered noticing clothing instead of the body underneath was when Sena was in girl's clothes, Sena was sure if he should be flattered or scared because of that.

"Did you go to watch another practice game?"

"Uh, something like that." Sena said with a blush, averting his eyes as he cautiously tapped the male on the ground with his foot. "I think you knocked him out Shin-san."

"... Did he not deserve it?" Shin asked in concern.

'Well, I'm not entirely sure how bad his intentions were, but he did sneak up on me and grab me...'

"I'm sure he'll be up and about soon." He replied, eyes slowly moving past Shin to land on an irritable Hiruma who was stalking towards them.

'He's probably mad that he didn't get to shoot at anybody.'

"Damn it, the reason I'm bothering to physically escort you back to school is so that stuff like this won't happen, don't fall behind. Now come on!" Hiruma turned around and stomped off, leaving Sena little time to properly thank Shin for his intervention and saying goodbye before he had to run to catch up to the blonde, which made the insides of his shoes rub against his toes uncomfortably.

It took all of four seconds to discover that Shin had begun to walk alongside him and Sena blushed, Agon and Hiruma's argument seemed to be forcing his brain to blow up the most innocent gestures into something with more meaning, even though he knew how _asexual_ Shin was.

"Sh-Shin-san, you really don't need to walk with me, you should get back to training."

"Considering that there is a good chance something like that will happen again due to your captain's pace and the unsuitable shoes you are wearing to keep up with such a pace I think it would be in your bests interest to allow me to escort you as well." Shin said in a no nonsense tone and Sena was horrified to feel himself blushing harder, not to mention wondering if Shin even knew what 'something like that' was, considering the older boy's naivety to worldly actions.

'In any case, just because he's walking with me doesn't mean anything, not that I would want it to mean anything. He's probably is just looking out for me for Takami-niichan's sake. Agon-san and Hiruma-san's argument earlier is just screwing with my head.'

Damn them and their oddly protective behavior, making him think that people were going to sexually harass him or had crushes on him.

Well, at least walking with Shin was slightly less awkward than with Hiruma and although the blonde had thrown a mild glare over his shoulder at them he hadn't actually told Shin to get lost.

Still, he was relived when Deimon came into to sight and Shin bid him goodbye before jogging back they way they had come.

'Now I can finally feel like a boy again.' He sighed in relief as he entered the clubhouse behind Hiruma, immediately heading for a sink to scrub off any makeup that hadn't already worn off, only to discover he had a slight problem.

Most of it had come off, but the mascara and green eyeliner appeared to be waterproof.

"Hiruma-san, do you have any-" He turned around, only to discover that the blonde had once again disappeared without Sena realizing he had left.

"Makeup remover." He finished lamely before going to the bag of cosmetics that Hiruma had set aside before leaving and digging through it.

There wasn't any in there.

'Well I'm not going home like this, mom is already going to question why my hair has been flattened out and if she sees me with eye makeup on she just might figure out that I've been up to no good.' He pursed his lips together and crossed his arms.

'Why does Hiruma-san have to leave when I need him the most? I don't want to go anywhere else like this, but I can't just call up Mamori-neechan and ask her to bring over makeup remover, then she'll wonder what it's for and then I'll have to tell her and catastrophe will strike.'

But who else could he possibly phone? He didn't want anyone to see him like this, especially people who'd make a big deal out of it like...

'Julie-neechan, if she saw me like this she'd be overjoyed! I'm sure she wouldn't mind coming over to bring me some makeup remover if she got the chance to see me dressed up again.'

And he was fairly certain that if he pleaded with her enough she would never tell anyone else about it, so it's not like it would be the talk of the town.

So without hesitation he took out his phone and dialed Juri's number, confident that she'd be able to help him with this little problem. Not without a price, probably, but he could work with that.

"Hello?" She answered almost immediately and Sena was grateful to discover that she seemed like she was in a good mood.

"Julie-neechan, can I ask you a favor?" He began in a timid sort of voice that he hoped would make Juri curious.

"Sure, what did you need?"

"I need you to bring some makeup remover over to the Devil Bats' clubhouse."

A long silence began to stretch out causing Sena to become dimly aware that he could hear Kotarou's voice in the background, asking why Juri was smiling.

"And I think it would be best if you left Kotarou-san there, all things considered."

"Oh but _Sena_, why exactly do you need something like that? Why don't you tell me what's going on."

"Well, to make a long story short... Aw heck, all you need to know is that if you come over right now you'll be absolutely _delighted_ about what you will find."

"Fine, I'm on my way... But you'd better not change or anything before I get over there."

'How did she know about changing?'

"Remember: women's intuition, I have a fairly good idea of what's going on and unless you stay exactly how you are you'll have to go out and get your own makeup remover."

He sighed, women's intuition was a scary thing. "Fine, I'll stay exactly how I am, just get here soon."

"Alright! I won't let you down!"

Sena pulled the phone away and flipped it shut as the waiting began. Juri's neighborhood wasn't too far away, but considering that she'd somehow have to loose Kotarou and go back to her house to get the stuff it would probably take far longer than Sena would have liked.

On the bright side it wasn't like he was waiting in a public area, he'd had enough of being seen like this today. Not to mention that with Hiruma and Agon's argument and _current events _fresh in his mind he'd probably become terrified of any male that came within seeing distance.

'I'm not sure how much more of this dressing up like a girl stuff I can handle, it brings out the weird in everyone.'

After an agonizing wait Juri finally burst through the door, looking entirely too excited as her eyes landed on Sena.

"Aw, look at you." She strode forward and tugged at the hem of Sena's sun-dress in obvious delight.

"I guess this is how you spy on other teams? Turn around, I want to see everything."

Sena did as he was told, trying to ignore that way Juri had clasped her hands together dreamily.

"That's so amazing, are those fake breasts?" Juri prodded at one experimentally and Sena stared at her dryly.

"Why, did you expect them to be real?"

Juri pulled away with a smile. "Oh no, I just thought maybe it was an illusion since I can't believe that-"

"NOT SMART!"

Sena and Juri whipped around to see Kotarou standing in the doorway of the clubhouse, comb gripped loosely in his hand as he stared.

"Julie-neechan, I thought I told you not to bring him along." Sena whispered.

"I didn't, he must have followed me." Juri slapped a hand against her forehead. "I should have known he'd do something like this."

Meanwhile Kotarou had finally gotten over his shock and moved forward, pointing at Juri with his comb.

"What did you do to Sena?!" He demanded and Juri frowned.

"What do you mean 'what did I do'? I've only been here for a minute!"

"But it must have been you because it's just like the outfit you put the poor kid in the first time!"

At that Juri turned around with a critical eye, tapping at her chin thoughtfully as she gave Sena several once-overs.

"You know what, he's actually right about something for once. Who got you to dress like this anyways?"

"Hiruma-san."

"Where is he right now? I'll go kick him for you." Kotarou offered kindly and Sena sweat-dropped.

"I really don't think that's a good idea Kotarou-san."

"Can I kick something at him then?"

"That really depends on wether or not your comb can deflect bullets, because otherwise I'm afraid you'd become riddled with holes if you tried something like that."

Kotarou held up the comb to his face to examine it closely and Juri snatched it out of his hand.

"It's not Kotarou, so don't even think about it."

"Julie, give that back! Not smart!"

Sena coughed lightly into his fist to grab their attention away from Kotarou's simply _captivating_, very _not_ bullet proof comb.

"Julie-neechan, if you wouldn't mind giving me that makeup remover now?"

"Oh yeah, I nearly forgot about that." Juri replied with a smile as she tossed Kotarou's comb back to him and dug into her purse for a small bottle.

"Do you know how to use this or do you want me to help you with it?" She asked as she handed it to him and Sena turned it around to look at the simple directions.

"I think I can handle it myself." He turned to go back to the sink, opening the bottle on the way and allowing several drops of the thick, soap-like liquid to fall onto his index finger before rubbing it against his closed eye for several seconds and then rinsing it with water before repeating the steps with his other eye.

He smiled at his now considerably less girly reflection, now all he had to do was take the clips out of his hair and change back into his uniform and there would be no trace of what he'd been up too. Well, except his hair would still be straighter than usual, but that wasn't too big a deal.

"Why do I always forget to take pictures of these moments?" Juri lamented loudly as Sena walked back towards them. "Who knows how long I'll have to wait for something like this to happen again?" She turned to face him, eyebrows raising steadily. "Who knows?"

"Well I certainly don't know." Sena replied honestly, deciding to leave out that, knowing Hiruma, the next time something like this would happen probably wouldn't be too far away.

"I'm going to go change back into my normal clothes, did you guys want to hang out after this? Since you're already over here and everything?" His mother had been awfully depressed that she'd have to wait nearly a month to properly meet Sena's new friends, maybe seeing him with his old friends would cheer her up a bit?

"Sure that sounds okay, I haven't seen your mom in a while. Did you want to invite Akaba over too?" Juri asked and beside her Kotarou's face twisted up in disbelief.

"Julie why would you want to invite him? We'd need to put a leash on him to keep him under control!"

Juri turned to him and crossed her arms. "Honestly Kotarou, no one asked you to 'keep him under control'."

"Yeah, but with you and him in the same room with Sena I can foresee something like last time happening again and someone needs to protect Sena from your _ideas_ and Akaba's _actions_." He combed his hair calmly while giving Sena a thumbs up with his other hand. "I've got your back, smart, right?"

"Maybe it would be best if we didn't invite Akaba along." Juri relented with a sigh. "I don't want one of your arguments to end with you spitting all over Sena's house, then we'd never be allowed there again."

"Okay, now that that's settled I'll be out in a minute." Sena slipped into the change room and hurriedly tore out of his outfit to replace it with his regular uniform

When he finally stepped back out into the main part of the clubhouse he felt oddly refreshed, as if by shedding the clothing he had also gotten rid of the stress that came with it.

"Alright, let's go." He said with a smile as he grabbed his school bag and began leading the way to his house.

Just as he had expected his mother was ecstatic to see Kotarou and Juri and was more than happy to let them stay over for a while so that they could all catch up with each other.

When Juri figured that it was time that they left Sena escorted them to the door and bid them goodnight, but while Kotarou made his way out the door Juri stuck around for another moment.

"Hey Sena, I guess Mamori-chan doesn't know about that stuff right?" She asked and Sena nodded.

"Well, I think you know from experience how much I like talking about these situations, but maybe we could come to some sort of compromise?"

Sena wasn't sure he liked where this was going, but he knew that Juri wouldn't ask him to do anything too over-the-top, hopefully.

'If she asks me to go out with Akaba-san I think I'll just let her talk, a vow of silence just isn't worth it.'

"What would you like?"

"Next time something like that happens can you call me up? Or take a picture for me? Please?"

"Uh, sure." Sena agreed lamely, that wasn't as bad as it could have been.

Juri left with a wide smile on her face and Sena shut the door with a sigh.

'Now I just have to remember that for the next time I'm sent out, which might be tomorrow for all I know.'

But after that came two weeks of solid practicing without any side 'missions' and he had even begun to think that Hiruma was too busy getting ready for the game against the Aliens' to worry about sending him on any scouting trips.

Too bad he was proven wrong when one day after a practice, just a little more then a week away from the Alien's game, Hiruma approached him with an assignment.


	56. Chapter 56

FASH: I'm baaack. How's everyone doing? Ireland was awesome: I got to pet sheep at a sheep farm and I tried Guinness, which was pretty awful but at least I tried it. Now it's back to the daily grind, it's so nice to be able to type again, I hope I haven't gotten rusty after my little vacation.

""-speech

''-thoughts

Sena stared at the blonde incredulously, lips moving soundlessly before he finally managed to indignantly say: "No!"

"And why not?" Hiruma asked lazily, probably thinking that it would be easy to coerce Sena into doing this assignment, just like it had been with all the others. Well, he'd be in for a bit of a surprise this time.

"Quite frankly I draw the line at spying on a team with someone I know on it, if Riku found out he'd never forgive me!"

That's right, Hiruma had wanted him to spy on the Seibu Wild Gunmen of all teams, and it wasn't only the team, but also the method of spying that Sena was blatantly refusing.

"You just don't want to dress up like one of their cheerleaders." Hiruma scoffed and Sena took a moment to wonder how on Earth the quarterback could treat this like a normal conversation.

"It's not just that. Don't you think that at least one of the girls would notice if a new person suddenly joined their ranks without explanation?"

"Say you're a transfer student."

"Even if that did work, how would I explain Agon-san's presence? Because I'm not sure I want to go through that whole fake girlfriend thing again." Especially if Riku was there and he managed to figure out Sena's identity because then he'd have a lot of explaining to do.

"Just tell fucking dreads to stay away." Hiruma suggested calmly as he popped a piece of sugarless gum into his mouth.

"Yes, but you know as well as I do that he won't stay away. Not only that, but shouldn't I really be spending more time practicing as opposed to going out spying?"

Hiruma rubbed his chin in a way that could either be thoughtful or mockingly thoughtful.

"How about we strike a deal then?"

"Uh..." Sena wasn't entirely sure that was a good thing to do, he almost felt like asking if it would cost him his soul but quickly decided against it, the amount of amusement that he'd get from it would be fleeting if Hiruma decided to take offence to it. "Well, I suppose if I don't have to spy on Seibu or any other teams where I personally know the players I'm up for it. But remember that I have a really low success rate when Agon-san is around."

"But he won't be around this time so it won't be a problem."

"He won't? But what if he finds out?"

"Fucking shrimp, our agreement was whenever I sent you out to spy fucking dreads would have to go along with you, if I'm not sending you out to spy then he doesn't have to know about it." Hiruma said lowly, an evil grin crossing his face.

"But if I'm not spying then what am I doing?" The brunette asked cautiously, not liking the grin on Hiruma's face at all.

"You'll find out soon enough, but for now you'd better get changed and get home. Oh, and study your current unit in math tonight, your teacher's planning a pop quiz and I don't want the fucking manager coming after me saying it's my fault your grades are slipping."

"... Thanks Hiruma-san."

"No problem, just remember that if your grades get worse she'll automatically blame me for working you too hard or something like that and I get the feeling she'd tell your mother about it. As interesting as it would be to meet your mother I don't want her to be pissed when it happens."

Sena's eyes widened. "You think it would be interesting to meet my mother?"

"Of course, she's got contacts with a bunch of mothers of American Football players, you only know several of them, but there's a couple more that she never bothered setting you up on play dates with. Not to mention she was able to organize those play dates quickly and efficiently, skillfully manipulating people to do her will. She's sounds like me." Hiruma's grin widened and Sena shuddered at the very thought of his mother being like Hiruma of all people, he didn't think he'd be able to survive.

"Alright, well, I've got to get home, see you later." Sena dashed away, thinking over some of the other things Hiruma had said.

It was kind of strange that his mother had all these connections to player's mothers wasn't it? He'd never really thought of it before, but now that he knew his mother had even more of these contacts he was oddly curious about the matter. Maybe he'd ask her about it later tonight, if he couldn't find out anything on his own.

That night after supper and studying for the math quiz, because Hiruma would destroy him if he didn't take his advice to heart, he pulled out several thick photo albums entitled 'Mihae's Childhood' with various years listed underneath in the elegant writing that his grandmother was fond of.

He discarded the first album as it only went up to when she was six and started in the middle of the second album, flipping through the pages idly as he searched for the faces of Takami Usagi, Kongo Yomi and Sawai Junko.

'There's Sawai-san.' It was a picture of his mother's entire class from her third year of middle school, she and Junko both had an arm wrapped around the other's shoulders and were giving the peace sign with their other hand. He didn't recognize any of the other girls.

He moved on to the next album and had just found a picture of his mother with a fairly large group of girls and was beginning to carefully look over their faces when his mother discovered him.

"Sena, shouldn't you be going to bed soon?" She asked with a yawn before she caught sight of the album. "And what are you doing looking through that?"

"Oh nothing, I just wanted to see what some of my friends mother's looked like when they were their age, you know, to see how similar they were."

His mother moved forward and crouched down, smiling lightly when she saw the picture Sena had been examining.

"There's Jun-chan right beside me, we were always inseparable ever since our last year of middle school. Over to the side is Usagi-chan, I didn't really become good friends with her until the end of our first year in high school and behind me is Yomi-chan, we became friends really quickly."

"What about all these other girls? Did you become friends with them all?" If so his mother must have been pretty popular in high school which was a kind of strange thought, he never really saw his mother go out with friends except for the times that he'd had play dates.

"I suppose with most of them we were more like acquaintances than anything else, I was a friend of a friend so we'd all just hang out together anyways."

"Hmm." He scanned the photo to see if there were any other faces that may have seemed familiar in case another one of these girls had a son who was into American Football and looked like her.

He didn't see any.

"Mom, don't you suppose it's kind of strange that Takami-niichan, Agon-san and Unsui-san play American Football while Julie-neechan and I are managers?"

"Well, I suppose it is a pretty big coincidence."

"It's just a coincidence?"

"Obviously. What do you think me and my friends did, make a pact that all of our children would be involved in the sport in some way? I'm not sure if there were even any teams back when I was in high school, so it's not like there's some reason behind it all. It's just a coincidence." She took the album from his hands, closed it and put it away before ruffling his hair. "Now go to bed, I'm sure you have a long day ahead of you tomorrow."

Sena reluctantly obeyed, mind once again wandering over what Hiruma had said. But if his mother said that it was just a coincidence then he'd believe her, even if it still seemed a bit too much to be just that. And if there were still two players out there that his mother had some sort of connection to, if she hadn't set up play dates with them then it must have meant that his mother and their mothers had drifted apart or they lived too far away. He'd probably never see them and it probably didn't matter anyways.

All that mattered right now was practicing for the game against the Aliens.

The remaining time flew by and soon enough the American team arrived in Japan, and with three days to go until their game with the Devil Bats their first order of business was to go up against Zokugaku University's team: The Frilled Lizards, lead by none other than Habashira Tokage, Rui's older brother.

Sena had already expected that he'd be sent out to watch the game, but he was pleasantly surprised that Monta would be coming along with him.

Of course Monta was a bit overly enthusiastic and had insisted they look like 'real' spies. The dark suits ands glasses he picked out would probably make them stand out even more, but it was better then standing out for an _entirely different _reason.

Tokage was like a taller, scarier version of his younger brother and, being a university team, Sena was fairly certain that the Frilled Lizards would win, or at least be able to hold their own, against the NASA Aliens.

He hated it when he was proven wrong.

The quarterback for the Aliens had some sort of super throw and the ball had gone from midfield to the end zone in one shot and the receiver caught the ball with a practiced ease, a minute hadn't even passed yet.

"Touchdown!"

"That was... Amazing to the max." Monta managed to mumble as he pulled down his binoculars and Sena couldn't do much else but nod in agreement.

Then they both heard a shuffling sound coming from their left and turned to see a group of men, all dressed in black suits with sunglasses, heading towards them.

"I've got a bad feeling about this." Sena whispered and Monta laughed nervously.

"Maybe they just dress the same because they're all friends?"

"Ha ha ha... I don't think that's quite right."

They both paused for a moment before shouting: "Run for it!" Sena dashing past a car while Monta just leapt over it, continuing on as fast as they could.

When Sena figured that they had finally lost them he began to slow down and looked around.

Monta was no where in sight.

"Oh dear, maybe I shouldn't have run so fast?" He nervously took off his sunglasses and began to fiddle with them as he retraced his steps.

"Monta?" He'd call every once in a while, but no one would answer.

"I guess he just headed back to school then." And Sena swiftly set off for Deimon, making sure to keep far from Zokugaku University as he made his way back.

Monta had gone straight back to the school and had just finished explaining the amazing pass they had seen when Sena walked onto the field.

"Right on time fucking shrimp, go get Eyeshield 21, the practice to protect against the long pass will be commencing shortly." He said dramatically and Sena nodded, dashing towards the clubhouse, preparing himself for what was bound to be a strenuous practice.

At least continuously running up and down the field trying to keep Monta from catching the ball while Hiruma threw the longest passes he could at the number eighty player was good for his stamina as he found himself jogging less than usual nowadays, but even he got tired of it after a while.

"If we're going to be interfering with the receiver, then we'll probably practice how to take down their quarterback before he throws right?" He asked Kurita hopefully and the older boy nodded with a large smile.

"Bingo!" He moved over to their strategy table where the figures of the Devil Bats and Aliens had already been set up and he took his own figure from the center of the line and moved it towards Homer.

"We'll break through their offensive line and rush him! We'll get Homer-kun before he can throw his shuttle pass, hopefully. This is where the defensive line has to do it's job!" He said and Komusubi nodded, both of them looked pretty pumped up.

"Awesome plan!" Monta commented and Sena crossed his arms.

"Yeah, it's good to know that we have strong linemen to take care of things like this." He said in relief.

He relief was instantly blown away when Hiruma began cackling behind him.

'That's not a good sign.'

"Normally it would just be the lineman doing this, but that's not how we're going to beat them, we're gonna blitz 'em!" He shouted, holding out a box of pretzel sticks that Monta raised his eyebrows at.

"Are you going to tell us what that means?"

"We're all going to abandon our positions and rush Homer to sack him!" He stepped over to the strategy table and with a sweep of both hands crushed all of the players together.

"What?!" Monta looked at the pile of figures nervously. "But if we do that, won't the defense over here be almost empty?" He pointed to the center of the field.

"Well at first some of us will stay back..." Kurita began, stopping when the sound of Hiruma cocking a gun reached his ears.

"One... Or eight... It's kill or be killed! Now hurry up, let's practice with the Homer doll. Down with the NASA Chickens!"

He brought them over to a very familiar looking statue with a piece of paper with Homer's face drawn on it overtop of the statue's normal face.

Mamori looked at it with wide eyes. "'Chicken?' Hiruma-kun, where did you find this statue?"

"I found it in a ditch." The blonde claimed with a grin and although everyone was fairly doubtful about that no one decided to comment on it any further.

"Still are we really supposed to tackle that?" Monta asked, rapping is fist against the solid object curiously.

"It looks like it'll hurt a lot more than tackling an actual person." Sena commented with a grimace, Hiruma just scoffed.

"Homer will be even sturdier and if you can't bring down an inanimate object how do you expect you'll fair against someone who can try and resist?"

'Well, I have tackled someone once in the Taiyo game and if we can't blitz we've got no chance of beating the Americans and then we'll have to leave Japan and my mom won't be able to meet my friends when I said she would be...'

"Alright, I can do this!"

"That's the spirit!" Monta wrapped an arm around his shoulders and leaned in close to whisper. "And remember, if we win against the Americans not only can we stay in Japan, but Musashi-san will come back to the team, then there's no way we'll be able to loose another game."

Sena nodded. "Right, let's get started!"


	57. Chapter 57

FASH: Hmm... I'm still jet-lagging a bit and I keep on waking up way too early then a teenager should, gah, mornings.

""-speech

''-thoughts

After practicing with the Homer doll and reducing it to not much more then a pile of rubble afternoon practice had come to an end and as he idly kicked around broken bits of what had once been the statue of a well known fried chicken restaurant Monta came up with an idea.

"Hey Sena, you know how when we come in for morning practice Kurita-san and Komusubi have already got their gear on and have been training for a while already? We should join in on that!"

"Well, I guess it would help us train for the blitz. Kurita-san, how early do you usually get here for morning practice?"

"We're here every morning starting at two A.M!" The second year stated proudly, Komusubi nodding beside him.

"But... the trains don't even run that early." And Sena didn't want to run all the way to school when it was still dark out.

"Well, you can leave from my house, like Komusubi does!" He suggested. "My house is really close to here, it's a temple of the Morenshu sect of Buddhism."

"Alright, that sounds like a good idea." Sena nodded before tapping his fingers against his lips in thought. "Do you think maybe we should invite Juumonji-kun and the others along too?"

Monta gave him an incredulous looked before answering, very dryly: "No."

Well, at least he'd asked, even though he himself doubted that they'd want to get up at two in the morning for practice, they hardly made it on time as it was. Juumonji might have, _might have_, wanted to come along, but with Kuroki and Toganou around he probably wouldn't have admitted it.

So after practice he and Monta both went to their respective homes to get some overnight supplies.

"Sena, if you've got time for a sleep-over then how come you don't have time to bring your friends over?" His mother asked with a pout as she watched Sena fold away a pair of pajamas into his overnight bag.

"Mom, you'll get to see them very soon. Besides, we're going to be going to sleep really early so that we can get up on time, it's not like this is going to be like a party or something." He explained and she pouted even more.

"It's not? But this is the first time you've spent a night at someone else house after that weekend you spent at Yomi-chan's house."

Ah, what fond memories those were, that weekend was the first time he'd 'met' Cerberus and had been the first time he'd heard Hiruma's voice from his relatively safe place inside the Kongo residence.

"You kind of make it sound like you want me to stay up all night and be late for practice." He said with a wry smile and his mother blushed lightly.

"Well, having fun with your friends is important too, you can't just work all the time. Besides, you're just the manager so it's not like you'll be training, you can just take a nap before school starts."

"I'll keep that in mind mom, but for now I'd better get going." He stood up with his overnight bag slung over his shoulder and gave him mother a quick peck on the cheek. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Try and remember to have some fun sweetie." His mother called cheerily as he exited the house before she moved into the livingroom, a distinctly happy skip in her step. Just a couple of days before she finally got to properly meet Sena's friends.

It was early evening by the time Monta and Sena arrived at Kurita's house and the sun was just beginning to set behind Tokyo's skyline.

Kurita smiled widely as he let them inside and the two younger boys looked around in wonder as they carefully put their shoes away.

"Woah, can you imagine growing up in a place like this?" Monta whispered as he looked around at the grounds before his eyes finally settled on the table laid out in front of them. "Sushi?!"

He, Sena and Komusubi stared at the massive amount of food in near shock while Kurita cheerily explained that it was leftover from a memorial service.

"Why don't we eat it? Otherwise it'll go to waste." He proposed and the four of them sat down at the table, all of them beginning to chow down.

"It's delicious, but there's really too much for just the four of us." Sena commented after eating his fill.

"There really still is a lot left over!" Kurita said, almost joyfully as he and Komusubi continued to eat.

'I wonder if this is how he grew so big?' Sena quickly shook away the thought, more important questions coming to mind.

"There's been something I've wanted to ask for a while now..." He began slowly. "Why did Musashi-san quit?"

Kurita paused and looked rather sullen at the question.

"Aw, it doesn't really matter." Monta said, still munching on some sushi. "If we beat the Americans he'll come back, but let's just keep that to ourselves guys."

Kurita immediately slammed his palms against the table and leaned forward. "WHAAAT?" He questioned loudly before pulling himself together. "Really? If we win against the Americans he'll really come back?" He took a deep breath. "Musashi-kun, Hiruma-kun and I all swore, way back when it was just the three of us that we'd make it to the Christmas Bowl together. And since his year is our last chance..." His fists clenched and his eyes began to tear up. "If Musashi-kun doesn't come back for the fall season, that dream will never come true. But maybe, just maybe, we can make it in time."

Sena uncomfortably shifted, wondering if he should make a move to get the older boy a kleenex for his tears, but his thoughts were abruptly stopped by a shout in English.

"BINGO!"

All four of them turned to the open door, the noise had come from somewhere in the yard, if they looked closely they could see a group of people standing around, but it had gotten a bit too dark to make out who they were from this far away.

So they stood and got closer to the door to get a better look and once they had efficiently crowded up the doorway the group in the yard began to stare back.

'I-It's Panther-kun!'

"Hey, it's the Aliens!" Monta shouted and pointed to the group and several of them treaded closer, easily staring Monta and Sena's shoulders to get a good look at the table behind them.

"Sushi?" "It's sushi."

"Well..." Monta began, looking around at his other three teammates. "The four of us couldn't possibly finish it by ourselves, right?" He asked and they nodded, moving aside to allow the other team through.

He recalled sitting down beside Panther, who had asked if Eyeshield 21 was around before going on in English and Sena carefully listened, deciphering words that he had learnt and puzzling over ones he was not familiar with. Thankfully one on the Aliens' players was able to comprehend some Japanese and was able to translate for the both of them the parts that they couldn't understand.

After that things started getting a little fuzzy.

He vaguely remembered that he and Panther had clinked glasses together before downing the beverage, Sena realizing a little too late that what he'd just drank was beer. After a couple minutes, or maybe it had been more and he just couldn't judge the passage of time properly, he began feeling a little ill and had decided to go for a run.

Panther, who wasn't entirely sober himself at this point in time, had run after him.

He remembered the wind against his face and lights streaming past as he ran with Panther right behind him, precariously balancing on something, he wasn't sure what. He also had a vague recollection of Panther asking if he was Eyeshield 21, but he wasn't entirely sure if that had happened or if it was only a dream.

And then this morning as he first woke up he noticed that he had a slight headache before noticing that it didn't like he was lying against anything.

He slowly opened his eyes, wincing a bit at the sunlight before he was able to focus.

His gaze snapped down, then up, then down again as he resisted the urge to scream.

"How did I end up here?" He questioned despairingly. Somehow during the night he had managed to not only get into the zoo, but the _lion's den _and was now hanging from a tree branch by the back of his shirt while a lion was on the prowl below him, circling the base of the tree in a predatory fashion Sena was not very fond of.

He desperately looked around for a trace of any other human. If he turned his head as much as he could managed he was sort of able to see Panther's legs sticking out from a garbage bin, apparently he was still deeply asleep.

"This is not good." He slowly stuck his hand into his pant pocket and sighed in relief, at least his cell phone had managed to stay in his pocket during what he assumed was a hectic night.

Making as little movement as possible, fearing that he would come loose and fall if he swayed too much, he pulled out the phone. He didn't know any of Hiruma's multiple cell phone numbers, but as long as Kurita or Mamori kept theirs on he should be able to get in contact with the blonde.

He turned his phone on and dialed Kurita's cell which rang without anyone answering it for a long while. Then he tried Mamori's which likewise rang for so long that Sena had almost lost hope that he'd be able to get a hold of the quarterback.

Then the phone was finally answered.

"Hello?" Mamori greeted cheerily and Sena almost cried in relief.

"Mamori-neechan."

"Sena?! Where are you? No one could remember where you went and you had turned your phone off so I couldn't reach you."

"Listen, I need you to let me speak to Hiruma-san." Sena's eye nervously trailed the lion's movements as he spoke. "Now, if possible."

"Why? What can he do for you that I can't?" Mamori questioned, sounding just a little irritated.

"Mamori-neechan I'm really sorry but I think Hiruma-san may be able to help me a little more in this situation." He squeaked, the lion had began scratching at the base of the tree and pushing it's weight onto the trunk, effectively causing the thin tree to sway.

"Alright, just a minute." Mamori replied and over the course of the next couple of seconds he heard the faded sound of yelling and a short argument before it become completely silent.

"Fucking shrimp, where the hell are you?" Hiruma demanded, sounding a bit more angry then normal.

"I-I'm currently stuck in a tree in a lion's den at the zoo."

"... Well damn, how the hell did you manage that?" Now Hiruma sounded more amused than anything else, Sena didn't really appreciate that.

"I don't know, but I could really use some help." And he was pretty sure that even though helping didn't seem to be his sort of thing, Hiruma would at least try his hand at it for Sena's sake, right?

"Fine, I'll round up somebody to get you, just _stay put_." He emphasized the last words and chuckled in amusement while Sena's eyes widened in distraught.

"You mean you won't be the one to come and get me?"

"Aw, did I disappoint you? Look, I'm too busy with this practice to get you myself and I'm not letting anyone else here skip out either. Any requests on who you want to save you from this situation that you somehow managed to get yourself in?"

Sena's eyes nervously flickered to the other lions that were beginning to wake up. "Just send whoever is closest." He begged before hanging up and shutting his eyes tightly in an attempt to forget where he was.

He wasn't sure how much time had passed before he finally heard someone calling his name and he looked down at the person, going limp with relief.

"Takami-niichan, it's so great to see you."

The older boy stared up at him with something akin to shock passing over his face. "When Hiruma-kun told me about this I was fairly certain he was just pulling my leg. How on Earth did you get up there?"

"I'm not sure, but I really would like to get down soon."

"Right, I'll go get one of the zoo keepers to guide the lions into their indoor pen right now, just don't fall."

"Easier said then done." Sena replied, his nerves were going to be seriously frayed from this little adventure and he was certain that he'd never want to climb a tree again after this. He looked over his shoulder at Panther who still hadn't moved from his position in the trash bin.

'Well, I think he drank more then me, maybe it took it's toll on his body? Maybe I should have asked Hiruma-san to contact his teammates while I was on the phone with him.'

When Takami returned with a zoo keeper in tow the woman looked up at him in shock before, rather predictably, asking how he got up there.

Sena was beginning to get very tired of being asked that question. Thankfully Takami was quick to remind the woman of the task at hand.

After ensuring that the lions were secure in their inside pen she curiously made her way over to where Panther was sleeping and pulled him out with a small amount of difficultly, thankfully he woke up from the feel of his body being moved around and, after noticing that it was morning he bid a rushed goodbye to Sena before dashing off in his amazing manner.

Takami leapt inside the pen and came to the base of the tree. "Alright Sena, did you want me to send for a ladder or do you think you'll be able to climb back down?" He asked, wringing his hands together nervously.

"Well, if I was able to get up here I should be able to get down by myself, right?"

He maneuvered himself so that both of his legs and one arm was securely wrapped around the tree before he used his other hand to detach his shirt from the branch. Then he slowly tried to shuffle down the tree, making fairly good progress until he felt a sliver of bark penetrate his skin.

With a cry of pain he loosened his grip and fell back, thankfully Takami had practically been right underneath him at the time and was able to catch him without any disasters happening.

"Sena, are you alright?" He asked in concern and the brunette smiled up at him wanly.

"Yeah, I think I'll be okay, but I really should get to school or else I'm afraid morning practice isn't the only thing I'm going to miss."

"Did you need me to walk you there? I don't want Hiruma-kun disciplining you for missing practice because of this."

"I should be fine, I think that he really finds it more amusing then annoying and I can handle myself. But thanks so much for coming to help me."

Takami ruffled his hair fondly before leading Sena out of the lion's den, the zoo keeper looking at the two of the warily.

"It wasn't a problem. Next time something like this happens, or even if it's not as, well, _extreme_ as this, Hiruma-kun isn't the only one you can call for help you know, just keep that in mind."

Sena nodded. "I will, thanks Takami-niichan."


	58. Chapter 58

FASH: The Alien's game is coming up and then we can finally start the Death March! Yes!

""-speech

''-thoughts

He arrived at school on time and tried to ignore the curious looks the Huh Huh Brothers were sending his way, clearly wanting to know why Sena of all people missed practice, and instead he focused on the teacher more than he usually did.

Their pop quizzes in math were handed back and Sena let out a sigh or relief when he saw that he'd done a fairly good job on it.

'I'm going to have to thank Hiruma-san again for warning me about that.'

Speaking of the blonde he really hoped Hiruma had kept his lips sealed about the zoo thing, he really didn't feel like having anyone else ask how he managed to do it.

He was never going to drink again, ever.

They had a short practice after school that day, Hiruma didn't want to work them too hard and strain their muscles before the big game, and afterwards Hiruma called him aside, a rather grim expression on his face.

"Look, since it's bothersome to have you contacting me through other people take this." He tossed him a small, crumpled piece of paper.

"That's the number of one of my newer cell phones, so I shouldn't toss it for a while. I'll give you a new number once I'm done with that phone, so just call me directly next time so that I don't have to deal with the middle-man." He finished, acting quite aloof.

Sena stared at the piece of paper and couldn't help but wonder how many people had ever been able to a cell phone number from Hiruma himself. The blonde did kind of care about him after all.

"Thanks Hiruma-san." He chirped before carefully storing the number away, he'd add it to his list of contacts later.

"Yeah, just don't think too much about it, I'm only doing this so that the next time you do something stupid and even I don't know where you ended up and for some stupid reason you've left your cell phone off you can contact me."

Or so he said, but if he really only cared about keeping track of Sena he could have just as easily implanted a tracking device in his molar.

Once he left Hiruma's general vicinity Mamori rushed up to him and after throwing the blonde a suspicious look that he smirked right back at she asked him what they'd been talking about.

"Oh not much, he just, uh, wanted to speak with me about what I'll be doing during the game tomorrow."

Mamori frowned slightly and shot another look at Hiruma from over Sena's shoulder.

"You mean you won't be sitting on the bench with me, again?"

"No, I'm afraid Hiruma-san gave me a different task to handle during the game." He hoped that she'd believe that, it wasn't like he hadn't apparently had errands to run or places to be during all of the other games.

"What does he have you doing this time?" She asked as she crossed her arms.

"Well... You'll just have to wait and see." Sena replied, not as convincing as he would have liked and he just hoped that Mamori would accept that his task was apparently a secret.

"Alright." She relented her quest for knowledge with a sigh. "But if you need a break from whatever you're doing Yukimitsu-kun and I wouldn't mind if you sat with us on the sidelines."

"I know, but I'm pretty sure Hiruma-san will be keeping me busy during the whole game."

In fact busy was probably going to end up being a huge understatement, not that Sena would mind, there was far too much riding on this game for him to give an inch. But he'd have to see how well he faired in that pretty much impossible task tomorrow.

The morning of July the twentieth was wonderfully calm and Sena found himself excitedly counting down the hours until their seven o' clock game.

He'd received a couple of calls that morning. One was from Takami, who wished his team luck in the game and told him be extra careful if he spoke to any of the American players in case he worded something wrong.

"Also, I've heard a strange rumor going around." The older boy said, troubled.

"And what rumor would that be Takami-niichan? You know it might just be something Hiruma-san spread around to be dramatic."

"I heard that if your team loses you'll be leaving Japan, that's not true, right?"

Sena pursed his lips together, Hiruma had said that, but did he really, truly mean it?

'Yeah, he probably did mean it.'

"Don't worry about it Takami-niichan. Everything's under control." He assured the older boy before they said their goodbyes.

The second call was from Juri to wish him luck in the game and she reminded him to cheer his team on to victory.

"Remember, it's important that the people on the bench keep on believing that the players on the field are going to be just fine. Oh, and I've heard this strange rumor about something that will happen if your team loses..."

After assuring Juri that everything would be fine, much like he had done with Takami, Sena bid her goodbye and hung up, willing the time to pass by faster.

Hiruma had been out doing some last minute 'advertising' for the game and whatever he did worked like magic because by the time they finally deemed it the appropriate time to gather at the stadium it was _packed_.

As the majority of the team were left staring around, completely dumb-struck, Hiruma laughed in a not entirely evil way.

"Unlike the Sphinx game, everybody's here to see us." He spoke to the still shocked team before leaning in a bit closer to Sena and whispering. "And there's some people here just to see _you_."

Sena somehow managed to rip his eyes away from the stands and blinked in confusion. "What do you mean by _me_? Eyeshield me or _me_, me?" He whispered back.

"Neither, they're here to see your feminine side." Hiruma had begun guiding him away from the field and towards the change room, casting a glance over his shoulder to make sure no one was following them.

"You mean the Dinosaurs came?" Sena carefully scanned the crowd for any sign of a familiar face.

"They got here later so they're sitting near the back. You won't be able to see them and they won't be able to tell from back there that you look awfully similar to _Kobayakawa Sena_, great name choice by the way, that won't make it harder to hide your identity at all." Hiruma commented sarcastically and Sena blushed.

"I-It just came out without me realizing I should have given a fake name, I didn't think I'd ever see them again." He protested as they stepped off of the field and into the entryway to the underground structure of the stadium.

"Whatever, that's not the point at the moment. Even with those guys sitting near the back I figure that they'll be able to tell that none of the people on the bench are you, since you don't bear any resemblance to the fucking badly or the fucking manager, that's where this comes in." Hiruma dug into his duffle bag and pulled out a small box, holding it in front of Sena with a completely straight face.

"Cherry Red, will come out in one wash... Hiruma-san, what does hair dye have to do with anything?" Sena asked in genuine confusion.

"After the game you're going to disguise yourself and then when they come down to look for you like I know they will and ask why they didn't see you on the sidelines you'll say that you were getting the crowd riled up on the other side of the stadium. As part of your 'outfit' to become a better cheerleader-"

"_Cheerleader_?"

"Shut up, I'm not done yet. This is to make you seem a little more like a fanatic, dying your hair in the colour of your team's jersey. So get this stuff in your hair before the game so that all you need is a quick change afterwards."

"A quick change into _what_?"

"You'll see."

They were completely alone in the change room now and Hiruma was tauntingly waving the box of hair dye in front of his face. Sena took it with a sigh.

"This is the thing I agreed to do in order to not spy on Seibu isn't it?"

"Yep, so since you already agreed to do it there's no way you can back out of this now. Hurry up and get this in and then change into your uniform, otherwise you'll miss the _extremely amusing_ banter that is bound to occur between Apollo and I when the Aliens get here." Hiruma cracked his knuckles as he left and Sena fearfully wonder what sort of people would find this 'banter' amusing.

He carefully read over the instructions on the side of the box, since this was a dye that washed out after one use he really only needed to work the foam stuff into his hair like a shampoo and let it dry and apparently he'd be left with 'cherry red' hair without having to use bleach before dying.

He just hoped that it wouldn't begin to come out when he started sweating.

After running the stuff through his hair, letting it dry and putting on his uniform he was able to make it onto the field just in time to see Hiruma and Coach Apollo greet each other with a 'friendly' handshake.

He crept a bit closer to hear what they were saying to each other, carefully glancing at the Aliens who seemed to be completely different then they had been at the party. But it was game time now, he really hadn't expected any different.

Hiruma and Apollo were speaking to each other in English and each of them seemed to be trying to insult the other by commenting on the size of an important piece of the other's anatomy and while they seemed to be calling it by a range of strange, different names Sena got the gist of it.

He blushed darkly and tried to block the rest out, for the first time wishing that his English wasn't quite as good as it was, at least it would have spared him the embarrassment.

"Mamori-san." Monta began. "What do those words mean?"

She blushed just as red as Sena had and swiftly turned around. "I have no idea!"

'Poor Mamori-neechan has to listen to this too. It must be even more embarrassing for her since she's a girl.'

In any case they both were quite relived when Hiruma and Apollo stopped arguing about that particular topic.

"You've really done it now you monkey. I hope you remember your promise." Apollo began. "If you don't beat us by ten points-"

"We'll leave Japan the same day." Hiruma finished and the majority of the Devil Bats slumped over is disbelief.

"You mean it's true?"

"Don't forget your promise either." Hiruma said as he pointed a rifle towards the Aliens. "You said that if you don't win by ten points you're not going back to America."

"WHAT? He really promised that?" "Don't worry, there's no way we'll lose."

The kickoff began at seven, the ball would be in the possession of the Aliens first and Hiruma had come to the decision that Sena would be the first one to try and take Homer down.

'It'll be just like practice.' Sena told himself encouragingly. 'Homer-kun isn't a lifeless statue, but I should still be able to do this.' He tensed his legs, waiting for the moment when he would have to spring forward.

"Set! Hut!"

Homer grabbed the ball and Sena rushed forward as the linemen on his team tried to break up the Alien's line, only to find their attempts little more then futile, no matter how many times they came at them the Alien's line would just keep pushing them back farther.

Sena tried to rush past the huge number fifty player, but he was easily pushed back before he could even get near Homer.

'Darn it, these guys have awesome upper body strength.' Sena watched in wonder as Homer's super long pass flew overhead.

Monta was running after the Aliens' receiver, Watt, but wasn't quite as fast as him so he called out to Sena: "Sena, you're the last line of defense, we'll both go after-" He then noticed that Sena was quite a ways back. "What are you doing back there?!" He questioned loudly as Sena finally managed to pick himself up from the ground.

"But you knew that I was going for the blitz... I can't be in two places at once.." Sena watched as the ball began it's decent, sighing in relief when it fell just a little too far out of reach.

"Ooh, Watt missed it by just a hair!" One of the announcers of the game shouted. "The pass is incomplete!"

"Man, this blitz thing is pretty risky, I don't think we should use it too much when their quarterback can throw such long passes." Monta commented just before Hiruma began to speak.

"Let's step up the blitz!" He announced.

"Huh?" Monta's jaw dropped open. "Who's gonna go this time then, I know that we practiced for this an all, but this is harder than just tackling a statue."

"Hmm? Didn't you practice it the morning when I was... Away? The statue was already broken by then." Sena questioned and with a flush Monta shook his head.

"We, uh, sort of got drunk with the Aliens and didn't get up until Kurita-san's dad found us and disciplined us for drinking."

"Oh."

"In any case! Who's doing it this time?" Monta questioned once again and Hiruma threw a sidelong glance at Juumonji, Kuroki and Toganou.

"Alright Huh Huh Brothers, it's your turn."


	59. Chapter 59

FASH: Sorry this chapter is a couple days later than normal, I had some hectic stuff going on but it's all good now so we can finally get on with the game. So, anyone out there pumped up for the Olympics?

""-speech

''-thoughts

Juumonji cocked an eyebrow and dryly asked: "Oh really?"

"Or you can at least act as a sort of decoy so that the fucking fatty junior can get through, just as long as we can stop that shuttle pass before it gets the chance to succeed." Hiruma glared across the field before sauntering into position.

The next play they did as Hiruma said and Komusubi was able to break through the barrier to get to Homer, but just that wasn't enough to keep Homer from using just his upper body and throwing the ball. This time Watt was in just the right place to catch it.

'Oh, this is going to be a bit troublesome.' Sena bit his lip nervously. 'Komusubi-kun is quite a bit stronger than I am, but Homer-kun was able to throw the ball even after he tried to tackle him.'

With the ball now in their possession they were going to need to score and close the gap before it got too wide, but the Aliens' defense, much like their offense, was pure muscle and difficult to overthrow or bypass.

The pass that Hiruma had throw at first had been left incomplete so to change up tactics next they would try to run the ball. Sena had been steadily going forward behind Ishimaru to use him as a shield of sorts, only to find that against someone like the elder Gonzales brother Ishimaru couldn't really defend himself, let alone another person.

In the end they were not able to get a first down and the possession of the ball was once again given to the Aliens and despite Juumonji being able to break through via the Juvenile Delinquent Murder Method to try and tackle Homer the quarterback was once again still able to launch the shuttle pass and get their team another touchdown.

This was not looking good, with their two touchdowns and extra point conversion kicks the Aliens were ahead by fourteen points already and with their blitzing not affecting Homer in the least the gap was only going to grow wider.

It wasn't until a while later Sena was struck by an idea. He'd been advancing with the ball and was pushed out of the sidelines, crashing into Cerberus's cage and opening the door to it. At first the dog had been growling at him until it appeared to catch a whiff of something edible. The pretzel sticks Yukimitsu was holding became it target and with a snarl it leapt towards the second year student, latching onto his arm with his mouth so that the snack dropped out of his hand.

He picked himself up off of the ground with a smile and turned to Hiruma and Kurita, who'd been walking towards him to ask if he was okay and tell him to pull himself together respectively.

"Since the ball is in the Alien's possession next, can I do the blitz by myself again?"

Hiruma and Kurita shared a look before the blonde shrugged. "Sure, you've got a plan then?" He asked and Sena nodded. "Well, let's hear it." He replied back deviously.

"Well, he may be able to still throw when we've got a grip around his mid-section, but if we get a hold on his right arm he won't be able to throw right?" He explained as they got into position and Hiruma cackled.

"Homer's weak spot. You may be right, of course, he's only bothering to protect _there_."

Sena frowned and averted his eyes. "Do you think it's impossible then?"

"Nothing's impossible, just rush in with so much speed that we don't need to protect you, think you can do it?"

The current red-head nodded and readied himself to spring into action. "I'll do my best."

"Set! Hut!"

Sena pushed off, going at his normal running speed until he got past the linemen and he pushed himself harder to go at his speed of light pace.

The expression on Homer's face was almost comical when Sena arrived in front of him in what seemed like a split second and he quickly wrapped both of his significantly small arms around Homer's muscular right arm. The quarterback tensed and flexed but Sena kept his hold until the ball became loose in his grip and he fumbled it.

Sena sprung forward and grabbed the ball, racing towards the end zone. In front of him and beside him players for the Alien's had began to gather, almost effectively surrounding him, _almost_.

He began to slow down considerably when approaching them and the elder Gonzales spread his arms. "Big..." He swung them forward, "Help!" and they wrapped around the air of the space Sena had occupied a split second before. Once he was able to pass the blockade of Alien's players he found that no one else had gone even further up the field in case he'd been able to break away and it was smooth sailing to the end zone.

"Touchdown! At last Deimon's counterattack has begun! At 14-6 they're closing in with an eight point deficit!" Came the voice over the speakers as Sena looked over his shoulder towards the field, none of the Aliens had come after him.

'Alright, I think it's safe to say that as long as I can get through with my speed I won't have to worry about their muscle.' He smiled lightly.

Then the hair on the back of his neck stood on end.

He swiftly turned around and looked up to see Panther, staring down at him from where he was perched on the goal post.

'Just now in a split second he was able to run from the bench to the pole and jump up there?' His eyes trailed down to the ground and then back up to where Panther was and locking eyes with him. 'That's amazing.'

"What are you doing?! Get down!" One of the referees yelled.

"Whoops, sorry!" Panther called as he leapt down and made his way back towards the bench, Sena's eyes still locked on him even as Monta came up behind him.

"That was Panther right? Bad news max! If he does end up playing in the game we'll be in big trouble."

Sena still didn't move his eyes away.

"Later... Do you think he'll come in later? Maybe in the second half..."

"What are you saying, stupid?" Monta had taken off his own helmet and began tapping it against the top of Sena's. "I already told you, if he comes in it'll be bad news!"

The tapping began to get progressively harder.

"Have you forgotten? Winning will bring back Musashi-san. And if we lose, we can't stay in Japan!"

"Yeah, I know." Sena replied and Monta stopped clacking their helmets together to move back into the mid-field.

'I know, but I can't help but want to play against Panther-kun and see how our running styles compare. It's like when I'm up against Shin-san, I can't keep my legs still, like they're twitching for a showdown.'

And if he wanted that showdown to happen he was going to have to work even harder to force Apollo into letting Panther into the game.

The next play Monta went in for a blitz and, following Sena's previous example, successfully took hold of Homer's arm and shut down his pass, but before the Devil Bats could huddle up and discuss their next strategy Apollo called: "Blue 27!" from the bench and the Aliens quickly got into position, leaving the Devil Bats with no time to decide their play.

Or so Apollo thought, not realizing that Hiruma had already discussed with his team what to do if they ever found themselves with no time for a huddle and had made up secret signs for them to look out for when it happened. And who would think that the amount of pretzel sticks the manager was munching on would be a sign?

It wasn't long before, due to the false information Apollo had been feeding his team about Deimon's plays, the possession of the ball switched back to the Devil Bats and Sena was once again running with the ball to the end zone. But he didn't quite make it. In fact after only two yards the younger Gonzales brother managed to tackle him.

Sena looked up at the small linebacker curiously from his spot on the ground, he hadn't been expecting that.

The younger Gonzales planted his hands on his hips and glared down at him. "I may be small, but don't underestimate me!"

Sena opened his mouth to reply that he himself wasn't very big so why would he underestimate someone because they were small, but he snapped it back shut when the boy in front of him kept going.

"I am a small, helpful guy!" He proclaimed before rolling up his sleeve. By then Monta had come to Sena's side and they both witnessed the unveiling of another irredeemable tattoo close up.

While the majority of the crowd seemed to find the Gonzales brother's tattoos far too amusing the running back and receiver couldn't help but disagree. Just because they clearly misunderstood the kanji they'd had put on their arms didn't mean they weren't a formidable duo.

By half time the Devil Bats still hadn't managed to score another touchdown and the score remained fourteen to six in the Aliens' favor.

"In order to bring Musashi-san back we've got to keep them from getting any more points and score at least nine more for our team in the second half. But we need another nineteen so that we can stay in Japan." Sena dropped himself onto the bench and sighed as Monta sat down beside him.

"Think getting those points'll be tough?"

"Yeah, we've been holding up our defense pretty well, but our offense isn't working as well as I had hoped."

"The little Gonzales brother, you can't just break away from him with your speed?"

"If I was just going up against him, one on one, it wouldn't be so hard, and all these guys are so much stronger and bigger than I am, it's hard to get through without blocking."

"I guess you've got a point there... What he doing?"

Sena turned to look where Monta was staring and saw Kurita scooping up crumbs from the pretzels Cerberus had been eating and was staring at them hungrily.

"No, no, no! That's garbage!" They yelled in unison and Kurita sadly placed the crumbs in the garbage.

"Thank you, but you don't have to worry about cleaning up. I'll do it, you should rest." Mamori said kindly as she swept up the crumbs and Hiruma stared hard at the cleaning instrument for a moment before seemingly coming up with an idea.

"Alright, let's go! Big sweep strategy!" Was all he said before moving over to his bag and somehow, by the use of either some sort of strange, sub-dimensional pocket or his own demonic powers, pulled out the strategy table.

"What do you mean by 'sweep'?" Kurita questioned as Hiruma laid the table out.

"There's no time to teach you with special defensive training. You're gonna have to do the bast you can to learn it during halftime, you damn jerks!" Hiruma said as he put all the players into position on the board, placing the Eyeshield 21 figure in front of the little brother Gonzales figure. "What it is... You get in the way of the trash-men who're protecting the outside, and block them from making a play, right?"

"Yeah." Sena looked at the positions of all the little figures carefully. "So the only shield left is Ishimaru."

"Sorry." He heard a small voice say and he turned around to see Ishimaru standing alone, apparently wallowing in angst.

"No... I didn't mean it in a bad way..."

Hiruma grabbed the broom from Maori's grip. "If that were the case, there wouldn't be much to say! Someone will run ahead and takes everyone up in a sweep!" He quickly moved the broom across the table, causing several of the figures to fly off.

"And who's gonna do that?" Kuroki asked and Hiruma grinned darkly before pointing in their direction.

"All of you on the line, excluding the fucking fatty!"

Kuroki, Toganou and Komusubi looked a bit nervous and Sena was a bit surprised to see that Juumonji seemed to be taking the information more calmly then the rest of them.

"All of you in a clump with Eyeshield..." Hiruma picked up all of the figures with one hand and moved them to the side before passing the figures that made up the Aliens' line. "Make a dash for the outside! Then you sweep out all the players who come out after you. There's no rhyme or reason, it's all about brute strength!"

Sena watched the four linemen walk back onto the field as halftime came to an end, the Huh Huh Brother were glaring at Komusubi who was glaring right back at them.

'I hope they don't start fighting... Why don't they get along anyways?'

"Make sure to protect Eyeshield!" Hiruma demanded and they turned to look at him. "Or else we have nobody to rush. Now is the moment for victory. The highlight of being a lineman!"

"Sen... Eyeshield-san." Juumonji addressed him and Sena gazed at him curiously.

"Y-you don't have to add the 'san', I'm just a first year like you guys after all." He responded in his deeper 'Eyeshield voice' uncomfortably, he wasn't sure if anyone had ever used that honorific when addressing him before. Was Juumonji just adding it to make it seem like he really didn't know anything about his identity, or did he really respect him that much?

He had no time to think about it right now, because the blonde had more to say.

"You're amazing." He stated and Sena could feel himself blush from the praise. "If we can make the smallest opening, you'll get through."

Toganou and Kuroki were looking at their friend in surprise, clearly not used to hearing this sort of thing come from Juumonji's mouth.

"Compared to you, we're still woefully inexperienced. There's no way we can tackle the Americans. But... There are some people we've got to prove ourselves to. Please." Juumonji lowered his head and Sena took and unconscious step back, not quite sure how to handle this situation. "If Kuroki and Toganou and I... If we somehow block them for a moment... Please get through."

Sena nodded curtly and swallowed, his throat suddenly very dry. "I promise I'll get through." He responded, his voice closer to his own pitch then he normally wanted it while being Eyeshield, but he figured that it was okay to slip up once in a while, especially considering the circumstances.

Of course it wasn't easy getting through the barrier of muscle that was the Aliens' defense but someway, somehow, they were able to create a small opening for Sena to get through and gain ten yards before he was tackled to the ground by two players.

It was a pretty painful experienced to be taken down by two people who probably both weighed at least twice as much as him, but at least he'd been able to hold on the ball and gained a first down, now they could stay on offense.

"That was the first time during this game that Deimon's offense really worked." "Of course, that was Eyeshield 21!" The announcers conversed and the people in the stands had begun chanting 'Eyeshield 21' over and over again until someone shortened it to 'Eyesh'.

Sena looked around in wonder, it was awfully strange to have his codename chanted like that.

"Wait! You've got to give the four blockers credit too!" "Yes! They really worked hard even with the power difference!" The announcers butted in and, following their advice, the crowd began to chant the other's names as well.

"I think they're actually cheering us on." Kuroki said, rather dumbstruck, Toganou nodded in agreement and the edges of Juumonji's lips quirked up in a small smile.

"All we have to do is win and everyone will recognize you." Hiruma butted in. "Losers are nothing but crap. To win you've got to want something, that's the world of football."

Monta overheard the blonde and searched for Sena's familiar form on the field and saw that he was, unsurprisingly, staring at Panther who was doing warm up stretches just in case. With a sigh he made his way over to him, grabbed onto the back of his uniform and began dragging him away.

"Do you really want to see Panther run that badly? Listen, I've got an awesome idea." He stopped dragging and turned Sena around to face him. "It's just like Hiruma-san said. 'You've got to want something to win'. Wouldn't it be great if we were killing 'em in the end? What d'you think would happen if we were winning by dozens of points?"

Ah, Sena knew where this was going, he'd been thinking the same thing himself, although Monta's idea was a bit more over-the-top, he really didn't think they'd be able to win by dozens of points with only the second half left.

"By winning we'll bring Musashi-san back on the team, right? And by killing 'em by more than ten points we'll be able to stay in Japan and then since we'll be so far ahead Panther will be able to play too! What do you think, pretty simple huh?"

"Well, it's a bit easier in theory than in practice, but I really do want to compete against Panther-kun. But how can we get enough points to make Coach Apollo use him?"

Monta hit a fisted hand against his palm in determination. "If you're really serious about this it doesn't matter whether we can or not, I'll help you with all I've got!"

From then on it was sweep after sweep until they managed to score another touchdown. They were closing the gap.

The Aliens' quarterback managed to succeed in throwing his pass the next time around and the gap once again widened to 21 to 12. But for their next offensive play Hiruma pretended to pass the ball off to Sena for a sweep and instead threw it to Monta, who'd been able to make it to the end zone easily with everyone else's attention focused on the sweep.

When on offense once again the Aliens focused on passing, but were unable to score another touchdown due to the constant blitzing.

And then, finally, Sena managed to make another touchdown and turned the game around, 26 to 21 in Deimon's favor.

It wasn't much of a lead, but Apollo himself had said that if he didn't win by ten points he wouldn't step on American soil again, and he only had so much time left to gain those points.

Then for some reason the Aliens players made their way over to the coach and got into the dogeza position.

'What are they doing that for?' Sena moved a little bit closer and saw that Panther was doing it too, and he had a vague recollection that, sometime during the night that he'd gotten drunk, he'd taught Panther that.

He couldn't really hear what was being said, but he was almost sure that he knew what was going on anyways.

Panther's friends were trying to convince Apollo to let him play.

He watched on, crossed his fingers, and prayed that they'd succeed.


	60. Chapter 60

FASH: Alright, very small change to the end of the game, but it doesn't make a difference in the final score, it's just to show that Sena has a bit more stamina then he originally had. And then we have the Dinosaurs coming down to meet _Sena-chan_. Woo! Oh, and for whoever it was that was asking, Sena taught Panther what dogeza looked like.

""-speech

''-thoughts

After what seemed like an eternity of waiting and deliberation Hiruma got sick of Sena staring and dragged him away.

"You'll see if he comes in soon enough, for now you've got to prepare yourself in case he does come in, because with his running style he might just be able to get the better of you, and don't forget what'll happen if we loose."

"I know, you don't have to remind me. My mom'll kill me if I leave Japan."

"Ah yes, the infamous Kobayakawa Mihae, she wanted to meet everyone after the game didn't she?"

Sena nodded and Hiruma smirked.

"Well I guess you'll just have to work even harder because it looks like Apollo's resolve to keep Panther out of the game is weakening. Even with his prejudice he doesn't want to become like the people who stomped on his own dream of becoming a starting player."

The game started again with a kickoff and the announcers asking if the Aliens would be able to rally.

Kurita and Komusubi ran towards the player who was clutching the ball, number twenty, Panther.

Seemingly without any effort Panther was able to dash right past them with a minimum amount of cuts, making it look almost as though he had rushed right through them. After that he successfully passed by every other player until Sena alone was the last line of defense.

Sena gave chase, once again using his explosive acceleration, but he could only keep going at that speed for so long before he began to slow down. With dismay he watched as Panther pulled away, still going at top speed, and run into the end zone for a touchdown.

'Panther-kun is really amazing.' Sena held a hand to his chest to catch his breath as he watched Panther's teammates swarm him to offer their congratulations. 'He's able to maintain that speed while I can only go at my fastest momentarily.'

His heart was racing, the pressure was giving him a surge of adrenalin and he could feel every fiber of his being telling him to rise up and meet this challenge head on.

The feeling only intensified as Panther approached him with a wide smile, his eyes glinting with fierce determination.

"It's a one point game with nine minutes left. Victory will soon be decided."

Sena nodded firmly in agreement, no longer as concerned about the consequences he would face if Deimon didn't manage to win by ten points. He hadn't felt this pumped up about a game since they'd played against Oujou.

During Deimon's next possession they once again tried using the sweep, a play that wasn't nearly as effective when Panther was opposing it. He easily dodged the blocks and tackled Sena to the ground all four times until their chance to try and gain ten yards was over.

Then it was all a matter of trying to figure out which offensive style the should try and defend against during the Aliens possession of the ball, Homer shuttle pass or Panther's run, if they concentrated on the passing they wouldn't be able to protect against the run and vice versa.

"But Panther just came in right? And he really wants to run so they'll use him won't they?" Monta questioned and Sena shrugged his shoulders.

"But then they would know that we know that, so wouldn't they pass the ball instead?"

"Not unless they knew that we knew but still did it because they knew that we would know and, uh..." Monta trailed off, scratching at his chin thoughtfully. "Let's just cover Panther for now, we can just change tactics later."

They did so, but the Aliens ended up using the shuttle pass and managed a twenty yard gain before Deimon's defense managed to stop Watt.

Then came Panther's run, and once again he easily managed to bypass everyone until it was just Sena trying to stop him. And, much the last time, Panther was once again able to pass by Sena, pushing on his shoulder to keep him out of the way, and score another touchdown.

But unlike last time Sena was able to take notice of something that could prove to be very important.

'When he's outrunning his opponents, he uses his arms to push them out of the way so he can use his minimum amount of cuts, that's how he's able to make such short turns as he passes by them.'

He got back into position, slowly turning around to took at his already exhausted teammates as he let the information he'd just discovered sink in.

'If he's doing that, then while he's pushing other players out of the way he's not completely protecting the ball.'

He'd have to make use of this new information later, but for now Deimon was back on offense and had less than two minutes left to make up for the seven point difference. This was going to be a bit tricky.

Hiruma had pulled everyone together in a huddle, evil smile still firmly in place despite the situation they were in.

"Listen up, if we can get one touchdown we'll get eight points by using the Devil Bat Dive afterwards and pull it out!"

'One point will be enough to bring Musashi-san back, even if we'll still need to leave Japan after the game that one point is all we need.' Sena clenched his fists in determination, he'd have to succeed.

He managed to gain a couple yards before being tackled by Panther and repeating the process once more before Hiruma decided to pass the ball to Monta instead of running it. Which turned out to be a not entirely good idea as Panther was able to intercept the ball. But this time as Sena chased after him a plan was forming.

He cut in close to run alongside the other boy, the first time Panther stuck out his arm to push him away he took careful note of the way the ball was being held by his one arm so that the second time around he'd know exactly how to go for it.

It wasn't long before Panther once again moved his arm to push him away, but this time instead of just trying to dodge the blow Sena ducked underneath it and lunged forward, hand outstretched to smack the ball right out of Panther's hand before the other boy could realize his mistake and then dashing forward he caught it before it had the chance to hit the ground.

Nearly the entire Aliens team was in front of him, but his teammates were taking care of most of them and the ones who were still able to follow after him just couldn't keep up.

His vision was beginning to become a little fuzzy but he valiantly ignored it and kept on running as fast as he could until he finally heard Hiruma call out: "Touchdown! Ya-Ha!"

Then he collapsed onto one knee, fingers digging into the ball he was holding as everything around him began to swim. He stayed that way for several long moments, assuring himself that he had gotten the ball back from Panther before pushing himself up onto his shaky legs and slowly making his way over to Hiruma.

The blonde was smirking, but the expression faded ever so slightly when he saw the uncertain way Sena was walking, as if he expected the ground to shift underneath him.

"We need to turn this game around with a Devil Bat Dive." He whispered to him grimly. "Do you have that much energy left in you?"

Sena nodded, although he really wasn't certain all he could do was try and hope for the best.

He exhaled a shaky breath as he got into place. There was no time left, they needed these two points otherwise Musashi wouldn't come back and they desperately needed a kicker.

"I can do this. I can do this." He muttered to himself before discovering that it was a was of precious breath and began chanting the mantra inside his head, hoping that somehow just hearing the words over and over again would help him fight off the exhaustion that was threatening to take over.

"Set! Hut!"

Sena dashed forward and grabbed the ball from Hiruma's hands, his movements just a little more sluggish than normal. It felt like he was merely a spectator, like his body was doing this all on it's own somehow and he had no control.

Numbly he raced forward as fast as his legs would let him go before pushing off from the ground, taking flight and sailing his teammates before he was savagely knocked back to Earth by the elder Gonzales brothers.

He hit the ground hard with a muffled cry of pain. The pain had woken him up a bit, had chased the exhaustion away for now but he found that he didn't have the will to move from where he lay, staring up at the dark night sky.

They had lost. Musashi wouldn't be coming back.

He was dimly aware that he'd been lifted into a pair of arms and carried off of the field, but it wasn't until he was sat down in the change room that he really took notice of it.

Hiruma's fingers loosened up the strap on his helmet before he pulled it off and Sena averted his eyes.

'I promised that I'd never disappoint him again, now I'm just a liar.'

He took a deep breath. "I'm sorry Hiruma-san. I just I didn't put enough rotation on my body so that I could slip right past. I'm sorry."

Hiruma frowned and placed his hands on his hips. "You're exhausted, you did a good enough job considering the condition that you're in. We'll get the fucking old man back some other way."

Sena finally looked up at him, surprised. "You mean you knew about-" He paused and chuckled. "Never mind, you always know don't you?" His eyes lowered to the floor again and this time he caught sight of Hiruma's duffle bag, no doubt containing some sort of strange costume.

"Hiruma-san, I really don't feel like doing what you've had planned for me. I know that the Dinosaurs will get suspicious that I'm not around, maybe they'll even start questioning Mamori-neechan and they'll figure out what I really am, but I really don't know how much more of this I can handle." He let his head sink into his open palms, wondering if what he said would really effect anything at all.

"Alright, look." Hiruma placed his hands on Sena's shoulders awkwardly. "I don't usually comprise anything and I really need you to do this. But." He crouched down and used one hand to move Sena's hands away from his face so that the younger boy could look at him. "If you do this for me, I promise," He paused and grimaced, clearly unhappy with what he was about to do. "I promise that I won't make you do stuff like this again, and if I ever send you out to spy you can go however you want and fucking dreads won't have to tag along."

Sena looked up at him, uncertain. "Really?"

"Do I have to repeat myself? I said I promised didn't I?" Hiruma rose up from his position crouched in front of Sena and stuck out his hand. "You don't even have to talk to them if you don't feel like it, just go out there for a couple minutes so that they know _you_ really exist. Do we have a deal?"

Sena placed his hand in Hiruma's and shook it. "Yes, we have a deal."

The blonde grinned. "Excellent." He pulled him up from the bench and gave him the duffle bag. "I'll inform some people not to act too oddly when you come out like this and as far as the fucking manager knows this is what you have been doing during the whole game, got it?"

Sena nodded and began to change out of his uniform as Hiruma walked away. When he noticed his movements were becoming sluggish again, the wakefulness he'd earned from his collision with the Earth starting to wear off he stopped what he was doing and smacked his cheeks as hard as he could.

"... Ow..."

Well, it had worked somewhat, but he had the gnawing feeling that it hadn't been as effective and wouldn't last as long as the alertness his fall had induced, not only that, but he was almost certain that the next time around it wouldn't work at all.

As quickly as he could he slipped on the black leather pants that had been in the duffle bag, along with a short red, pleated skirt that would have bordered on indecent in Sena hadn't been wearing pants underneath. Then he slipped on the red top that ended several inches above his bellybutton in an unneeded display of his midriff, the words 'Devil Bats' were embroidered on it in black and white thread.

With an amount of amusement that would probably be strange to find in someone who wasn't extremely tired he noticed that the skirt and shirt matched his hair perfectly.

Then came slipping on the shoes, a relatively easy task compared to squeezing into the tight leather pants, they were just a pair of simple black heels, hardly giving Sena another inch of height and they weren't too hard to walk it.

Of course he'd been expecting hooker boots or something along those lines, so anything was a step up from that.

He made his way out of the change room with a small smile.

'At least I don't have to do something like this for Hiruma-san ever again.'

He arrived just on time because just as he exited the structure of the stadium he saw Maruko and Marco approach Mamori, Gaou and Kisaragi waiting for them at the front of the stands.

Sena marched forward, ignoring the way Kuroki's eyes widened, the way Monta's jaw dropped open, the way Yukimitsu stared and other various reactions that he really didn't need to register right now.

Hiruma wanted him to do this, so surely they would understand why he'd do something so mortifying.

Maruko's expression brightened up when she saw him approach from over Mamori's shoulder and, curious, Mamori turned to see what had caught her eye.

Sena couldn't help but flinch when Mamori's expression clouded over with worry.

"Sena, you mean you actually-? When Hiruma-kun said that this is what you'd been doing I thought he was lying! Was this Eyeshield-kun's idea? Wait! You just came from inside didn't you, is Eyeshield-kun okay? Are you okay? Did he try anything?"

Sena held up his hands. "Mamori-neechan, I swear that Eyeshield 21 hasn't been hitting on me and this wasn't his idea."

Mamori looked very unsure about that. "So it was Hiruma-kun's idea then?" She asked darkly. "Did he force you to do this?"

"No, no. I'm doing it willingly." 'So that I don't have to do anything like this ever again.' He added mentally and when he realized that Mamori was going to question him again he quickly changed the subject.

"Marco-kun, Maruko-neechan. Have you two been well?" He asked as his teammates began to close in on him, probably curious about a multitude of things Sena didn't want to address.

"Sena, you know these two?" Mamori asked and Marco stepped forward, an almost dazzling smile in place.

"Indeed we have met, although under some rather unwanted circumstances the second time around, but I believe the events of the first time we met more then makes up for that."

Several people leaned in to hear better and upon seeing Mamori's questioning look Marco rose an eyebrow and Maruko turned to look at Sena curiously.

"You mean you didn't tell them that you saved someone from being hit by a truck?" She asked. "I know it's not really a topic that you can just pop into any sentence, but you really didn't tell them?"

Sena slowly shook his head, inwardly dreading Mamori's reaction.

"Sena, how exactly did you save someone from being hit by a truck?" She asked, voice low and grave, eyes wide and searching.

"Oh it was quite a display of courage and goodwill I'd say. She simply rushed in and pushed me out of the way. It was-"

"Sena! You rushed into the path of an oncoming truck? What if you'd gotten hurt?!" Mamori grabbed onto him and held him close, apparently so wrapped up in her concern that she hadn't noticed Sena had been referred to as a 'she'.

"Mamori-neechan, I was fine." Sena replied breathlessly, the exhaustion was beginning to settle in once again and he found that he couldn't do anything to try and worm his way out of Mamori's bear hug. "Besides, that was a really long time ago, even if I had gotten hurt I would have been fine by now."

"Not if you had _died_." Mamori replied dramatically before finally letting Sena go. "You can't just rush into situations like that Sena, please try and be more careful."

"I will." Sena responded, eyes beginning to droop as he turned back to Marco and Maruko with a wan smile.

"So did you two come here to watch the game?" he asked, trying to ignore the feeling if the Earth swaying beneath him.

"Yes, and we were keeping our eyes peeled for you, I didn't know you doubled as a cheerleader." Maruko responded with a small smile.

"Yes, well, I suppose this is what I get for not being able to round up any cheerleaders before the big game. I didn't see you around though, you must not have been on the side of the stadium I was on." Sena slowly blinked and kept his eyes shut for a couple seconds, trying to dispel the tired feeling coursing throughout his body.

"I suppose so, too bad." Marco commented lightly. "You do seem to be rather tired though, all of this cheering has gotten to you I'd say."

Sena smiled lightly and opened his eyes again to look at the other boy. "Yeah, I'd say so too."

"Still, you seem to be almost glowing, a very good look on you to be sure." He went on and Maruko sent him a look. "What? I was just being honest."

"I'm sure the only reason I'm 'glowing' is because the light is reflecting off of the sheen of sweat I'm covered in. Wait, maybe I shouldn't have said that."

This was bad, he was beginning to feel even more dizzy, the feeling that everything was moving around him was intensifying and the need to find stability was growing even stronger. He didn't have much time left before he could no longer stay awake.

"Oh no, I don't think it's just that." Maruko piped up. "Sometimes girls just glow, like when they're in love, or when they're with child."

Someone behind him had begun to snicker and Sena assumed that, by the pitch and the way they were trying to cover it up, it was probably Juumonji.

But the snickering abruptly stopped and Sena couldn't help but wonder why until he felt himself crash against the ground.

Then everything went dark.


	61. Chapter 61

FASH: Dogeza is the pose that Panther and the rest of the Aliens did when asking Apollo to let Panther play, essentially you're kneeling on the ground and are bowing further over. Anyways, guess who isn't late this time around! Oh look, it's Riku! Because seriously, Riku hasn't been around for a while...

""-speech

''-thoughts

He pushed himself up from the ground and threw a careful look over his shoulder. 'Where did everyone go?'

"Are you out of gas?" A hauntingly familiar voice called and Sena looked to see Shin standing in front of him. A huge bench-press bar, a ten tonne anvil and an elephant all piled on top of the other, propped up by one finger. "You haven't been training enough." He said simply, but Sena, for once, wasn't really paying attention to what he was saying.

'He can't be real! But the scary thing is I can't be sure!' He moved to hold a hand to his forehead, blinking in confusion when it came in contact with his helmet. "I must be seeing things because I'm so worn out."

"It makes sense." Shin replied as he let the elephant down. "You're always full on sprinting, even when you're playing defense."

"Oh, I suppose you're right." Sena agreed as he pushed himself up into a sitting position. "But we don't have enough players, it takes a lot of stamina to play both offense and defense, and-"

"Stop whining." Shin commanded and Sena's mouth snapped shut, watching with no small amount of fascination as Shin took the ten tonne anvil in his other hand, holding it as easily as if it were only a backpack that weighed ten pounds.

"You'd better get stronger before the fall season if you want to win." Shin said as he began walking away and Sena stumbled to his feet to follow after him.

"Wait, Shin-san, how should I train to get stronger?" He questioned and Shin turned around, an expression on his face that made Sena take a fearful step back.

Shin was smirking in an oddly Hiruma-like way, he even had the fangs to go along with it. A wholly disturbing scene.

"You'll find out soon enough!"

Sena awoke with a start and wildly looked around, trying to figure out where exactly he was before a comforting hand clapped on his shoulder.

He turned to see Juumonji looking oddly grim.

"We're at the airport aren't we?"

"Yeah." The blonde replied, a hardly noticeable shake in his voice. "Well be boarding the plane in a couple of minutes and then we're off to America."

"I see." Sena looked around the waiting area, slightly surprised that Mamori hadn't been hovering over him, waiting for him to wake up.

"Hiruma said that he gathered up everything you'd need for the trip. I should probably go tell everyone that you're woken up now." Juumonji rose from his seat.

"Wait! I have a couple questions. What happened after I passed out? And who, you know, changed me into my normal clothes?" Sena tugged at the hem of his shirt and Juumonji sat back down beside him.

"Well, after you passed out we had one hell of a time convincing that pair you knew that you would be okay and that they didn't need to stick around. Then Hiruma carried you back off to the change room where he washed that stuff out of your hair and got you dressed. Then we came here." Juumonji averted his eyes and coughed into his fist.

"Really? Because one would assume that with all the preparations he'd be making Hiruma-san wouldn't have time for something like that." Sena responded doubtfully, smiling lightly when Juumonji's cheeks tinted pink.

"You know, it's not like I'd kill you just because you changed me into my regular clothes."

"Wh-what makes you say it was me?" Juumonji asked suspiciously and Sena opened his mouth to reply, but he was interrupted by a ringing.

He dug into his pant pocket and flipped open his cell phone, holding it to his ear with a small amount of dread when he saw who was calling.

"Hello Takami-niichan."

"Sena, thank God I got a hold of you! Where are you?"

"An airport, I don't know which one though."

"Do you think you could find out? When is the plane supposed to be taking off? I'll come over and get you before it's too late."

"Takami-niichan, I don't-" Sena paused as the phone was taken from his hand and he turned to see Hiruma standing behind him, smirking as he spoke.

"Oh, it's already too late." He shut the phone off and placed it into a carry-on bag, ignoring Sena's questioning look.

"Come on, it's time to board." He said, tossing the pair their plane tickets and passports before strutting away.

"... Did he take everyone's cell phone, or is he just doing this to freak certain people that I know out?" Sena questioned as he got up.

"He took everyone's, something about not wanting us to turn them on to call anyone because of roaming charges."

They made their way toward the boarding area and Sena fiddled with his ticket nervously.

"Do you think my parents know where I'm going? Hiruma-san wouldn't just leave without telling them what was going on, right?"

Juumonji shrugged his shoulders. "If he didn't, then that guy who just called you right now would tell them wouldn't he? So you don't have to worry about coming home and seeing that they've filed a missing person report on you."

They got into line with the other Deimon Devil Bats and Monta appeared out of nowhere to give Sena a firm pat on the back.

"Good to see you're up and about. That little fainting spell had us worried to the max!" He leaned in a little closer to whisper. "Mamori-san seems to be thinking that the reason you fainted was because of that other lady's comment about being in love or whatever. She's been around questioning the entire team about whether or not we know anything about your 'love-sickness', so you may want to never talk about Eyeshield 21 around her ever again, because that's who she thinks it is."

Sena gave Monta an incredulous look. "She's been asking around about it? Wouldn't I be a bit more... Suspicious or day-dreamy or something if I were in love?"

"I dunno man, but Mamori-san really thi- here she comes."

Sena turned to see Mamori happily strolling towards him, a rather disturbed looking Kuroki in tow.

"Sena, are you feeling alright?" She asked as she held a hand to his forehead. "You don't seem sick at all, why do you suppose you suddenly fainted like that?" She leaned in a bit closer. "Is there something you're not telling me?"

'Well, yes, but it's not what you're asking about.' Sena replied mentally before shrugging his shoulders. "What is it that you think I'm not telling you?"

"Hurry it up!" Hiruma called angrily. "Just show the person your tickets and passport already, you're holding us up!"

Mamori flushed and did so, Sena following after her nervously.

"Mamori-neechan, did Hiruma-san get your cell phone before you were able to call anyone?"

She turned and smiled at him comfortingly. "Don't worry Sena, I called your mother while you were unconscious."

"I see." 'But Takami-niichan, Juri-neechan, Unsui-san and Agon-san will probably get worried too. Takami-niichan and Juri-neechan even called me before the game too... Darn, I was supposed to call Juri-neechan the next time I was forced into an outfit. Oh well, I was too distracted trying to keep conscious, I'm sure she'll understand. Or she can just never find out, that way Kotarou-san has to go through less stressful situations.'

Sena sighed as he followed Mamori to their seats, sitting beside her and suddenly feeling very tired although he'd only just woken up.

"Mamori-neechan, what time is it?"

"It's just past eleven. You should go to sleep, you seem really worn out from all that cheering you did." She patted at his hand comfortingly. "The first thing I'll do when we get back to Japan is scout out some girls for a cheerleading squad, that way you won't have to do anything like that again."

"Thank you Mamori-neechan." Sena shut his eyes and bit his lip, wondering if Shin would be showing up in his dreams again.

'That might turn out to be kind of awkward, two times in a row... Especially if ends up being like Hiruma-san again.' He shuddered a bit, unsure if he'd be able to handle a smirking Shin, the expression seemed so surreal on his usually straight face.

After settling back down he easily slipped back into a thankfully dreamless sleep, as did the rest of the exhausted Deimon players, completely unaware that another team had begun to board the plane.

Sena awoke again when he felt himself being shaken and he slowly pried his eyes opened to see Mamori looking down at him in concern.

"Sena, are you alright? You were having a nightmare."

"Oh, I'm fine Mamori-neechan." He pulled his blanket higher up until it reached just under his chin. "I just had this strange dream where Hiruma-san said that we all had to leave Japan, and then suddenly we were all on a plane bound for America, but that's not possible." He settled down again before his eyes snapped open and he looked at Mamori who was giving him a nervous smile.

"I'm afraid it is possible Sena."

"Oh no." Sena buried his head in his hands. "Mom's gonna kill me when we get back.."

"Don't worry about it, we'll only be gone for a couple days and I explained the situation to her before Hiruma-kun took away my phone, I'm sure she'll understand that there was nothing you could do to prevent this." She ran a hand through his hair comfortingly before she settled back down for some sleep.

"A couple days, huh?" Sena highly doubted that. It's not like he knew Hiruma all that well, but he was fairly certain that if he bothered making and going through with this bet then that meant they were going to be in America for a lot longer then a couple days. He wouldn't be surprised if they ended up staying there, doing some sort of ludicrous training the entire summer.

'This is going to end up being one unforgettable summer isn't it?' He turned to look at his teammates, most of whom were still sleeping peacefully except for Juumonji, who had gone very pale and looked even more nervous then he had been while they were still in the airport.

"Juumonji-kun, are you okay?" Sena questioned as loudly as he dared, not wanting to wake anyone up.

The blonde gave him a wan smile. "That depends on what you mean by 'okay'."

"Are you afraid of heights? Or just flying?"

"Both." Juumonji replied, clenching the armrests on either side of him so tight that his knuckles were turning white. "Something this heavy shouldn't be able to fly, I don't care how powerful their engines or motors or whatever are, it can't, it just can't."

Sena pushed away his blanket and unbuckled his seatbelt, moving to stand in the aisle beside Juumonji's seat.

"You know, more people die in car accidents then plane accidents."

"Obviously, there are more cars than planes." The blonde retorted.

"Have you gotten any sleep at all?" Sena asked in concern. "Maybe I could ask Hiruma-san if he carries around sleeping pills with him or something, you never know."

"I managed to get to sleep before we took off, but we ran into a bit of turbulence a while ago and that woke me back up. And as touched as I am that you would go through waking him up for me, not that I truly believe he's asleep because that would just make him seem far too human, you really don't need to, I'll be okay."

Sena gave him a disbelieving look. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah yeah, I'll just close my eyes and pretend I'm on a boat or something for the next fours hours."

"Well, if you're sure..." Sena turned to walk back to his seat, cocking his head in curiosity when he saw that there was a group of people at the back of the plane. It was a bit too dark for him to make them out, but he was sure that he hadn't seen anyone other than his team in the waiting area.

'They must have arrived at the very last minute because of the Alien's cancellation.' He sat back down and fiddled with his blanket, not really feeling tired.

Thankfully sunlight was beginning to stream into the window and soon everybody was stirring from their sleep.

"Look Sena, we're over land now." Mamori pointed out the window and Sena leaned over her.

"I can see it! That's America!" He said in amazement and Monta rushed over to look out too.

"We're above the clouds! Awesome max!" He exclaimed as Kurita and Komusubi leaned in to see from their window.

"What are you gawking at, you damn brats?" He asked, as if he'd been through this sort of thing hundreds of times, which could very well be true.

Sena pulled himself away from the window, figuring that there were more pressing matters at hand.

"Hiruma-san where are we going to be staying while we're here?"

"No idea! None of you have money to pay for a hotel. We'll have to raise funds once we're there."

"'_Raise funds'_? What kind of trip is this going to be? I draw the line at prostitution."

In unison everyone turned to stare at him.

'Oops, maybe I shouldn't have said that? I was just trying to be funny, I guess my sense of humor isn't as great as I thought it was.'

Hiruma cackled madly, apparently the only one who found what he said amusing, everyone else seemed to think he had been serious.

"Don't worry fucking shrimp, that wasn't what I had in mind."

Sena slumped into his seat, blushing. "Good."

A stewardess came down the aisle. "My, this stuffed animal looks so real." She commented before making her way back to the front of the plane and Sena was thankful when most attention was turned over to Cerberus, who had an entire row of seats to himself.

Yukimitsu turned around to look at the dog from over his seat. "Is Cereberus really allowed to sit there?"

"There's plenty of room! The Aliens have more players than us, so there were a ton of extra seats."

"The extras are all empty?" Monta questioned, turning around to get a better look. "Weren't there some standby passengers?" His eyes widened dramatically. "The Wild Gunmen!"

Sena perked up and swivelled around. "Seibu Wild Gunmen?" He question.

"Do you know any other Wild Gunmen?" Hiruma scoffed and Sena turned to him with a smile.

"Well Hiruma-san, one would assume that you could be considered a 'wild gunman'." He said as he stood up to get a better look at the group of people sitting in the back, smile widening when he saw a familiar shock of white hair.

"Riku!" He called as he squeezed through one of the middle rows and began walking down the aisle towards the sleeping boy, only to have a hand come out of nowhere and pull him back.

"Can't you wait until we land so I don't have to hear all of this 'brotherly love' going on?"

"Hiruma-kun, I demand you remove your hands from Sena's person!" Mamori said as she stomped over to glare at the blonde whilst pulled Sena out of his grip.

'Uh-oh, building tension of the negative kind.'

"Why do you always have to bully him?! He's been here for this team since the beginning and he's done so much for it!"

"And I care because?"

Mamori's eyes narrowed and in an attempt to stop a full scale vocal attack from waking up any passengers Sena tugged on her shirt and smiled up at her when she turned to look at him.

"It's alright Mamori-neechan, I don't mind."

"Oh, you're too sweet Sena, that's why people take advantage of you, they know you won't mind."

"Mamori-neechan, I really wouldn't describe it as being taking adva-"

"Is that you Sena?"

Mamori and Sena turned around to see Riku rubbing at his eyes wearily before blinking them in sudden wakefulness and standing up with a wide smile. "Sena!"

"Riku!"

"Riku-kun!"

"Mamori?"

Hiruma held a hand to his temple in annoyance. "Dear Satan, make it stop."


	62. Chapter 62

FASH: Man, I went to Canada's Wonderland just the other day and rode Behemoth, it was kind of terrifyingly awesome! And I promise that after the Death March is over I'll throw in some more Kakei, because he needs some love too.

""-speech

''-thoughts

Mamori was standing in the aisle beside Riku's seat as Sena knelt in the seat right in front of him, folding his arms on the top and resting his chin on top of them.

"So, what was that commotion earlier?" Riku questioned and Mamori placed her hands on her hips, sending a not so subtle glare in Hiruma's direction.

"That would be Hiruma-kun trying to bully Sena and me having to stop him." She ruffled Sena's hair lightly. "You know how Sena is, he's changed a lot from when we both had to keep him safe, but he still allows himself to get pushed around."

Riku turned to look at Sena. "So she's still protecting you, what about the promise?"

Mamori tilted her head to the side. "What promise?"

"Oh, it's nothing." Sena said with a dispelling wave of his hand. "It's just something I promised Riku when he moved away all those years ago."

"Aw, it's sounds like it would be adorable, what did you promise?" She pried and Sena threw Riku a pleading look.

"Oh, it wasn't anything too important. Besides, we promised that we'd never tell anyone, right Sena?"

"Um-hm, pinky swore on it." Sena agreed quickly, thankful that Mamori didn't demand any more information on the promise.

"They'll probably start taking us down soon, Sena, remember to come back when the seatbelt sign comes back on. I'll see you later Riku." She turned and made her way back to her seat and Sena sighed into his arms.

"I'll be able to protect Mamori-neechan someday. I may not look it, but I've become stronger." He said as he watched her go before turning to look back at Riku. "It's a bit hard to protect someone when they keep trying to protect you..." He pursed his lips together, the topic becoming a bit more awkward then he would have liked.

"So, what are you doing going to America?" He asked in an attempt to change the topic and Riku smirked back at him.

"I could ask you the same question. Our coach has got a ranch in Texas, so we'll be going there to train for the summer."

"Really? We lost a bet in a game so we were forced to leave Japan. I imagine Hiruma-san will put us through a lot of training that we'd have never gone through back home."

Riku frowned slightly. "You lost a bet so you're being forced into exile?"

"I wouldn't really call it exile, more like an abruptly planned vacation."

"Do you know where you'll be staying? When you'll be going back? Did you want to leave Japan?"

"Uh, no, no and not really." Sena answered truthfully and Riku crossed his arms and leaned back into his seat.

"Then it's exile."

The brunette sighed and rolled him eyes dramatically. "Well at least it's a group exile then, with all our more regular members of the team along with the one who exiled us."

Riku opened his mouth to reply, but stopped when the pilot's voice came over the speakers.

"_We'll be landing in Huston Airport in approximately forty minutes, at this time we would like to ask all passenger to return to their seats and do up their seatbelts. The current time in Texas is 7:19 AM if you just want to adjust your watches, so we should be on the ground by eight._"

"I suppose I'd better go over to Mamori-neechan now, but I might see you again in the customs lineups and stuff right?"

"Probably, but for now you'd better hurry over to Mamori before a stewardess comes around and tells you to get back to your seat."

"Okay, I'll see you around Riku." Sena said as he got out of the chair and scurried to his seat beside Mamori, tapping his fingers against the armrests idly as he waited for them to land.

The wait to get through customs seemed like it was a little too short, Sena could only assume that this meant Hiruma had blackmail on nearly everyone in the world, and soon enough they were able to go pick up their luggage, all of it was easy to spot because a Devil Bat patch had been sewn onto each one.

Hiruma lead them out of the airport and, much to everyone's surprise, towards the beach.

Sena half expected that they were going to start some strange training session, but what kind of training could they do at a beach that they couldn't do at home?

"I'll be back in a while, I'm going to scope out some things, you damn brats can do whatever you want." He said as he flipped open the Devil's Handbook: Houston, Texas edition and walked off.

Curiously Sena peered into his bag, eyes widening a bit at the contents.

How had Hiruma gotten a hold of his swim trunks?

'Maybe it would be best if I didn't know...'

Everyone changed into their respective bathing suits in the nearby change rooms and somehow Mamori was able to somehow get hold of a watermelon, an extra piece of material for a blindfold and a stick for anyone who wanted to smash the melon.

Sena was up first, he put the blindfold on and Monta spun him around until he felt almost nauseous before handing him the stick.

Sena took an unsteady step forward, he'd never done anything like this before, since his version of going out in the summer was usually limited to watching practices or hanging out with people at home, so when, after taking six paces forward Monta told him to watch out, he merely assumed that it was part of the game to keep him from being able to find and smash the watermelon.

A couple more paces forward and he was knocked over by something, the stick he'd been holding bashing against his head as he fell to the ground.

"What was that?" He asked as he pulled up his blindfold, blinking up at the cow in front of him wildly before looking past it at the nails and other various sharp, painful things that Sena had been headed for.

"Phew, that was a close call." He muttered as Monta run to beside him.

"Thanks cow!" He called and Sena tilted his head to the side as he took a closer look at it.

"But why is there a cow at the beach?"

"Cause it's Texas?" Monta responded with a question before they both caught sight of Hiruma, carrying a briefcase he hadn't been carrying before.

Sena ran forward and Monta followed, a question forming on his lips. "Hiruma-san, aren't you going swimming?"

Hiruma turned and grinned at them. "Now that we're in America, there's somewhere I have to go first!"

Sena took a second look at the briefcase and wondered if whatever he was doing was dangerous, but even if it was he was still kind of curious...

"Can we come along?" He asked and from the corner of his eye he saw Monta turn to stare at him.

"Sure, why not? Just hurry up and get dressed." The blonde commanded as he crossed his arms, a slightly amused smile playing on his lips as both younger boys nodded, dumbstruck, before dashing towards the beach's change rooms.

Sena really shouldn't have been surprised that they ended up in some sort of large gun store, with a shooting range attached to boot, but he still couldn't help but wonder how many more guns Hiruma thought he needed.

Hiruma seemed to be right at home with all the weaponry and was even purchasing six, _six_ of the guns he'd been checking out, along with a whole lot of bullets.

"You can't take this back to Japan." The shopkeeper told the blonde with a wide smile.

"We'll smuggle it." Hiruma replied, as if smuggling weapons would be the simplest thing he'd ever done. Which it might have been, considering how much blackmail he must have had in his Houston Devil's Handbook.

'But still, I'm sure that some of those guns would be available in Japan, this must be some sort of training preparation... I don't like getting shot at when I'm running.'

Sena was snapped out of his thoughts when the shopkeeper turned to look at him and Monta.

"Hey pipsqueaks." He called. "Wanna shoot a few rounds?"

"Us? Guns?" Sena asked, voice shaking just a bit.

"Aw come on fucking shrimp, it won't be so bad, it's not like you'll be using one of these." Hiruma prodded as he held up on of his recently purchased guns.

"Well, I guess if you say it'll be okay..."

He really should have known better, even if Hiruma had assured them that it wouldn't be too bad.

The recoil from shooting the gun had sent Sena flying backwards and Monta looked to be extremely nervous just from holding the gun in his hand. But the sound of multiple shots beside them allowed hem to ignore their own predicaments and see who else had come to the shooting range.

"Manly... Now that's manly!" Seibu's coach said as he twirled his guns away and back into his holsters.

"Well, _someone's _enjoying himself." Kid commented dully from where he was seated at the back of the room.

"Hey, it's the Wild Gunmen." Sena looked around to see if Riku was anywhere in sight, the Wild Gunmen had taken significantly longer to get through customs so he hadn't had the chance to speak to Riku again before they left the airport.

Sena sighed when the fair haired boy didn't enter his vision.

"'Manly'? You missed every shot!" "Even those two pipsqueaks could blow you away." Commented the two other men who'd been at the shooting range since before Hiruma, Sena and Monta had even come into the shop.

"Japanese people..." "They're all peaceniks, they can't shoot a gun."

That was an incredibly stupid thing to say when Hiruma was only a couple feet behind you with only a glass panel to shield you from whatever he could dish out at you, and those two were going to find out first hand.

Hiruma held up the hand gun he'd been inspecting and shot, the bullet busted through the glass, went right through a small opening in the first man's crossed arms and then through an opening between the second man's hand and his gun until hitting the dead center of the target.

"Not bad. I'll buy this one too." Hiruma said as calmly as ever while the men who'd had the bullet just barely graze them nearly foamed at the mouth from shock.

"Deimon?" Seibu's coach questioned and Kid turned to look.

"Oh? They were on TV with the American game... And aren't you Riku's friend?" He questioned, eyebrows raising slightly, but before Sena could answer Kid's coach had practically shoved a gun in his face.

"Hey Kid! Show 'em what _you_ can do." Kid frowned and looked about to protest. "Coach's orders."

The frown deepened but he took the gun. "Okay, okay. Like I said, something terrible..." He then proceeded to shoot off rounds faster than Sena thought was possible and each bullet was going into the center. He and Monta both stared, slack jawed, as Hiruma rather calmly assessed everything from behind them.

"Yeah, he's got awesome genes."

The comment made Kid twitch ever so slightly and his last bullet went into the corner of the target.

"Genes, huh?" He put away his gun and adjusted his hat absentmindedly as he began walking out of the store. "I trashed my family register over five years ago. Now I'm nothing but a nameless, wayward child. Just call me 'The Kid'."

Sena and Monta stared at where he had exited, speechless for several moments until Monta was finally able to stutter out. "C-cool."

"Alright pipsqueaks, I think it's high time we go back to the beach, there's something I've got to look for over there..." Hiruma lead the way back to the beach before turning away to find whatever it was he was looking for, leaving Sena and Monta to change back into their swimming trunks again.

Afterwards they made they're way over to Mamori who looked over them with relief.

"Where did you two go? You never told me that you'd be leaving, I was looking all over for you."

Monta flushed from the concern and opened his mouth to apologize for causing her any worry.

"Moo!"

His mouth snapped shut and the three of them turned to look to see the bull being tugged over to a post and tied to it.

"That cow... Why is it still here?" Sena questioned for the second time that day before a loud voice broke through his train of thought.

"_The Texas Beach Football Tournament! Step right up to play, everyone!_"

"Beach football?" Sena and Monta questioned in unison and Mamori shrugged.

"It's like beach volleyball. You tackle each other by touch, so it's safe. The games are informal, each one lasts about ten minutes."

"_The prize money is one thousand dollars!_"

"WHAT?" All three of them gaped at the sum.

"_And as an additional prize... Incredibly delicious Texas beef, the winner takes home this prize steer!_"

"Huh?" Sena took a cautious step closer to the animal. "Does that mean he'll get eaten?"

"Well, I guess he _is_ beef." Monta replied, rubbing a hand behind his neck. "It's too bad though, since he did save you from walking all over those tools..." He drifted off as Seibu's coach began to walk by, only to stop and stare.

"That's not the face of a livestock animal. He's got the eyes of a fighter!" He took his guns out of his holsters and begin shooting them in the air. "That's it! Hey Kid! We're gonna win and then we'll take this bull and put him in the rodeo at Ben Ranch!"

"What are you talking about? The whole team already left for the Ben Ranch." Kid's expression darkened slightly. "You don't mean... Just you and me are gonna play?"

"We have to, we're cowboys! It's our job to save the bull!" His coach said with zeal and Kid sighed.

"_The games are about to begin!_"

Monta seethed and began to furiously look around. "If we win that prize money, we can pay for a hotel. But where did everybody go? We won't have enough players at this rate!"

Sena carefully looked around in case Monta had missed anyone in his rush but couldn't seem to catch sight of anyone either.

'Darn, if Hiruma-san hadn't gone off then I'm sure he'd know where everyone had gotten to and then we'd have enough people, as it is we're just like Kid-san without enough players...' Sena's eyes winded slightly.

"Mamori-neechan, how many people need to be on each team for beach football?"

"Five, why? I haven't seen any of our guys around so I really don't think we'll be able to gather them up in time."

"I've got an idea."

He approached Kid nervously and took a deep breath. "Kid-san?" He began, becoming slightly more nervous as Kid looked his way. "Um... If it would be possible... Could we join together and become the Devil Gunmen?"


	63. Chapter 63

FASH: Alright, the beach football games are summarized because I didn't really feel like expanding on them. And I've made the chapters several pages longer again in preparation for when I go back to school and won't be able to update as often.

""-speech

''-thoughts

"The tag team approach, huh?" Kid threw a look over his shoulder at his coach. "I suppose we may as well, otherwise neither of us will be able to find enough people to form a team on time."

The first team that their rag-tag group was going up against were the 'Sexy Queens' who, in Sena's personal, unspoken opinion should invest in some mildly less disturbing swim wear.

Monta's catching ability combined with Kid's quick draw allowed them to get the first touch-in. Unfortunately afterwards the Sexy Queens saw fit to keep two players around Monta at all time to block Kid's passes and with Mamori constantly keeping him right behind her to protect him from the other players Sena was beginning to feel increasingly useless.

"This is pretty tough with only two real players." Kid remarked during a huddle after the Sexy Queens managed to score a touch-in.

Seibu's coach untied the kerchief around his neck and threw it down in frustration. "If only Tetsuma were here!"

"But coach, didn't you already send him to the Ben Ranch? Right now he's on the bus with everyone else. Tetsuma always follows orders..." Kid sighed and propped one hand up against the sideboards. "Wouldn't it be great if Tetsuma suddenly got here." He spied a figure racing towards the beach from the corner of his eye and turned to get a better look, eyes widening when he saw who it was.

"Wouldn't it be great?!"

"Sub!" The coach called. "Time out! Sub!"

They all quickly got back into position and Kid was already in motion by the time Tetsuma made it onto the make-shift field. "Tetsuma!" He called as he tossed the ball into the air. "Slant!"

Immediately Tetsuma followed the route set out for him, nearly bowling over any of the opposing players that tried to stop him. And all the strain the Sexy Queens' disturbing swim wear was going through was also causing it to rip in equally disturbing ways.

Disturbing and cheap was not a good combination when it came to anything clothes-wise.

In the next play Tetsuma was completely surrounded by opposing players and Mamori was looking away, not wanting to turn around in case any more rips occurred, thus Sena was finally able to do something without worrying that he'd be found out.

He took the ball from Kid and ran to the end zone, his footwork causing clouds of sand to be kicked up into the air into the eyes of some unwary spectators.

The were able to defeat the Sexy Queens nine to four and were able to go on to the next round where even Mamori was beginning to get into the game. After Sena had been roughly tackled to the ground a determined look crossed over her face and in the next play she stole the ball from the opposing team by knocking it out of the quarterback's hands before he could throw and running into the end zone for a touch in.

"Stop ganging up on Sena!" She cried as she turned around and Sena sweat-dropped.

'Old habits are hard to break, huh?'

They managed to win the next couple of games and were able to enter the final round against a team called 'Too Tattooed', a group of rather intimidating teens, each one covered in tattoos that they proudly displayed.

At the moment they seemed to be hovering around a bench, speaking in English lowly although Sena could make out the word 'sensei' as well and he took a good look at the person who seemed to be resting on the bench.

"They said 'sensei'." Monta remarked and Sena nodded.

"Do you think that guy is their coach? Look at his neck towel..."

"And his long johns..."

"Is he Japanese?"

"It really looks like it, huh!"

The pair shared an amused look before their opposing team began walking towards them.

"Hey, Japanese team. All of you kids play da old school football, right?" The leader asked as one of his teammates pointed a finger in Kid's direction, Kid just placed his hands on his hips, not even looking mildly affronted at the gesture.

"It's so old school to just have da one guy throwin' passes."

"... Da?" Sena repeated curiously as Mamori came up beside him.

"In some forms of English slang 'the' becomes 'da'." She explained and Sena nodded in understanding before turning his attention back to the other team.

"Listen up, cause we're da legends on this beach." "We wrote da book on beach football."

"Football and beach football are not the same." The leader once again spoke up, eyebrows furrowing in determination. "We'll show you what it's all about."

Sena hadn't been exactly sure what they were going to show them, but he was sufficiently surprised when he finally did get to see what they were talking about.

It wasn't just one guy throwing the ball, nor was it two or even three, all of them were doing it.

"_There it is! The Too Tattooed's killer play! They toss around short passes like a spring. It's 'the dance of the flea!'_"

Without knowing for sure which player would have the ball at any given moment as all of them ran up the sand at the same time it was incredibly hard for the Devil Gunmen to stop the progression of the ball.

It didn't take very long for the Too Tattooed to gain a seven point lead over them.

"This is bad, they're really different from all the other teams." And with Mamori's eyes now keeping constant vigil over him he really couldn't do much, although he wasn't sure how much he'd be able to do even if she wasn't there, intercepting would be no piece of cake.

"Yeah, they're a real beach football powerhouse." Monta commented with a strained smile as Seibu's coach began to freak out on the sidelines.

"This is terrible! At this rate that steer's gonna be eaten!"

Kid adjusted his hat. "All right, it looks like we're not gonna win unless we start tossing some teeny passes."

"But none of us can throw passes." Sena responded and Monta nodded beside him.

"Yeah, we've got no control..."

They were going to need a miracle to win.

"Hey, fucking manager!"

Sena inwardly cheered as Hiruma came into view, another quarterback was exactly what they needed.

"Player substitution! You go find our other players!" The blonde ordered.

"But they need me here!" Mamori protested.

"You've been relieved of your 'Sena protection duties.' I'll take it from here."

Mamori frowned and gave him a highly doubtful look but she eventually relented and went off to find everyone else.

Hiruma quickly motioned everyone close and got them all in a huddle. "Alright, the five of us make the strongest pentagon! We're gonna sack 'em and kill 'em! Now get into position, we've got some money, _and a bull, _to win."

He threw a sidelong glance over at Kid as they both moved to stand behind Tetsuma. "First we'll alternate between the two quarterbacks. With you're quick draw shooting we'll be unbeatable."

"You're giving me to much credit, but..." A smile slowly spread on Kid's face. "It does sound like fun."

"Of course it does, it's the never before seen super quarterback tag team."

The game started up again and Tetsuma snapped the ball to Kid who sidestepped as two opposing players rushed over to him before tossing the ball to Hiruma.

The two players quickly turned and ran back to Hiruma, but the cunning quarterback was able to fake them out and make them think he was throwing a long pass when he just tossed it back over to Kid.

After begin able to advance the ball a fair amount from just passing between them Hiruma finally threw a long pass.

"Tetsuma! Zig out!" Kid ordered and Tetsuma quickly obeyed. "Now toss to the left!"

Sena dashed forward and grabbed a hold of the ball, quickly running to the end for a touch in.

The game continued on like that with Hiruma passing Tetsuma the ball, who'd run whatever route Kid had told him too and then toss it to Sena, who'd bring it back to Kid who'd pass it at Monta.

By the time the game was over it was twelve to eleven, the Devil Gunmen had been victorious and the commotion was apparently enough to finally wake the Too Tattooed's trainer up. He slowly sat up on the bench and threw a look over at the scoreboard. "Huh? What? We lost?!" He turned a little more to get a better look and caught sight of Kurita who's eyes widened considerably at the sight of him.

"It can't be, what are the chances?" Kurita mumbled and Hiruma came up beside him.

"It's no coincidence. I planned this according to the beach football tournament schedule."

"Hiruma! Kurita! Long time no see, you guys!"

"Doburoku-sensei!" Kurita cried, lunging at the man with his arms wide open and Doburoku took a frightened step backwards, just barely missing Kurita's impromptu hug and instead getting flung back towards an information stand.

"Oh no, the old man's body can't take that!" Monta exclaimed but, much to everyone's surprise, he grabbed a hold of one of the supports and swung himself around.

"Watch out for _this_ you jerks!" He yelled and Hiruma scoffed.

"He's shaking like a leaf. After three years in America he's gone totally soft."

"Shut up, stupid idiot!" Doburoku snapped back in agitation, bring of jug of what Sena could only assume was some sort of alcohol to his lips. "Could anyone keep their cool if Kurita suddenly leapt at them?"

In his fit of anger Doburoku hadn't noticed that Kurita had gotten back up and was once again moving towards him until it was too late for him to run away from the crushing embrace he suddenly found himself in.

"I missed you, sensei!" Kurita cried and Doburoku responded with various muffles as he tried to free himself.

"Is he really their sensei?" Sena asked Monta but the other boy looked just as puzzled as he did.

"What kind of person is he?" Mamori, who'd come back from rounding everyone up, asked Hiruma who grinned and replied:

"He's a regular old alcoholic."

"N-no he isn't!" Kurita called as he finally let the man limply drop out of his embrace. "He's our coach from junior high, Doburoku Sakaki sensei! He's the one that taught me and Hiruma and Musashi how to play football!" He excitedly proclaimed as he gestured at the man behind him before he found himself being pulled back by the collar of his shirt.

"Da! I'll kill anyone who messes with our sensei!" The Too Tattooed leader, Simon, yelled as he kept Kurita in place with one hand bunched up in his shirt and the other gripping onto his hair. "He taught us punks how to play beach football. If it weren't for him we'd all be dealing drugs by now!"

Doburoku finally recovered from Kurita's bear hug and went up to Simon, lightly smacking him on the back of the head.

"It's okay Simon, these guys are my students too." He said as he made his way to the water and walked in until it was halfway up his calves. "My shirt got all sandy... Must be three years since I washed it."

Monta's jaw dropped open. "Three years?!" He and Sena shared a disturbed look.

"Why did sensei move to America?" Mamori asked.

"He was fleeing his debts." Hiruma replied curtly and Kurita began mentally tallying the sum.

"Wasn't it about twenty million yen total?"

"Twenty million?" Sena and Monta asked in unison and Doburoku laughed dryly.

"No matter how much I won at the horse races, it was never enough."

Sena highly doubted that betting at horse races could have helped him at all, in fact it had probably just dug him even deeper into dept without him really taking notice of it.

"That's why I'm here in America." Doburoku continued. "Training guys who don't go to high school. I planned to send some to Deimon if they showed any potential."

"Like a scout-slash-trainer?" Hiruma asked and Doburoku nodded, tensing when Hiruma pulled out a gun. "So why is the scout training guys for _beach_ football?"

"Well you see..." He began, a blush spreading across his cheeks. "On the beach, the girls with the hot bodies... They all say: '_sensei, teach us_,' you see..."

Hiruma, clearly unamused, began shooting at him even as Simon came up behind him and tried to stop him.

"Yow-ow-ow! I'm sorry!" Doburoku cried as he ran and Sena sighed before turning away, eyes landing on the fully dressed Kid before moving on to see the rest of the group. They were standing by the side of the road several meters away and Coach Horide seemed to be hailing a taxi with a gunshot.

Sena watched on, head titled to the side curiously as he wondered if the taxis in Texas would actually transport a bull.

Apparently not, seemingly right after Coach Horide explained the situation the taxi abruptly left.

"What are we gonna do?" He cried loudly, crouching down on the ground and cradling his head in his hands.

"You didn't think this through." Kid began dryly. "How are you gonna move the bull?"

Doburoku turned to them from where he'd been speaking with Kurita. "Why don't I take you in my tricked out truck?" He offered and coach Horide turned to him with a wide smile.

"That'd be great. Real cowboys always pay back the favor, is there anything you guys need?"

Hiruma stepped forward with a grin. "Actually, we're going to need somewhere to stay for a couple nights."

"You need a place to sleep? You're welcome to stay at the Ben Ranch!"

"Alright, lodging problem solved!" Monta pumped a fist into the air in excitement. "So, where's this 'tricked out truck' anyways? Are you sure it'll hold us all?"

Doburoku scoffed. "I'm positive. Follow me everyone!"

"But we still need to change out of our swim wear." Mamori protested and Hiruma waved a dismissing hand at her.

"Just put your clothes overtop before we get in the truck, no one will care if you're not wearing proper underwear, don't get your bikini bottoms in a knot."

Mamori went red and Sena immediately moved in front of her to calm the raging fire of anger that Hiruma's comment had ignited inside of her.

"Mamori-neechan, we may as well get going as soon as possible, since we don't know how long it will take us to get to Ben Ranch, right?"

Mamori calmed down a bit, but she still threw a dark glare in Hiruma's direction. "Alright, let's get going."

Doburoku lead them through the beach's parking lot to the very corner of it where a massive red and black Devil Bat theme truck was parked.

"Alright, all you kids and that bull can get in the back." Doburoku said as he got into the driver's seat, Coach Horide slipping into the passengers seat beside him to give him directions and then they were on their way.

"This truck is really amazing!" Sena said as he leaned over the edge to get a better look at the side of it.

"What do you think of the Devil Bats Edition truck? I couldn't wait to show you guys, I had to borrow three million yen to get it." Doburoku called from the interior of the truck and Sena started at the information.

"He didn't really think that through did he?" Sena turned around and spied several bags that Hiruma and Kurita had brought onto the truck with them, he was almost afraid to ask what was in them in case it turned out that Hiruma had bought even more firearms.

"Hiruma-san, what's in those bags you brought along with you?"

Hiruma gripped onto on and dumped the contents out in front of them. "There are no stores way out here, so I brought provisions."

"What? You mean you already spent the prize money? When did you have time to go and do that?" Mamori questioned, baffled. "Do you somehow get them delivered to the beach or something?"

"You know, he's the type who never thinks of the consequences, and he probably just blackmailed someone to deliver it to him." Sena commented dryly as he gazed at the horizon. "How far away is Ben Ranch anyways?" He threw a look over his shoulder at Kid and Tetsuma who were seated in the corner with the bull.

"We'll be there in less than an hour." Kid responded, pulling his hat over his eyes and leaning back as if to take a nap.

Sena settled himself down beside Mamori who, with a smile threw an arm around his shoulders and drew him a bit closer.

"Are you going to be okay Sena? Playing all that beach football must have been tough on you, did you need me to get you some water?"

"I'll be fine." Sena responded, looking past Mamori and at Monta who was sitting on her other side, looking a bit jealous. "But I think maybe Monta might need some, he did do more in those games after all."

"Oh, you're right." Mamori withdrew her arm and turned to look at the other boy who basked in the newfound attention.

The rest of the way to Ben Ranch was spent in near silence, most of the people in the truck wondering just how long they'd be staying in America for.

Hiruma had said they'd only need a place to stay for a couple nights, but it would seem like a pretty useless trip and a wasted effort to get here if they went back home after just several days, Hiruma had bought far too many provisions for just a couple days worth of being out in the middle of nowhere and considering that they now had no money for plane tickets home, unless Hiruma had something up his sleeve for that situation, which he probably did but he just didn't feel like sharing it at the moment, they were going to be stuck here for a while.

"Alright, here were are... The Ben Ranch." Coach Horide announced from the front seat after a drive that seemed to take forever.

Sena slung his backpack over his shoulder and stepped out of the back once the truck had stopped, gawking at the land before him.

"It's huge!"

"It looks just like I thought an American ranch would." Yukimitsu commented as he took in the sight in front of them.

"What are you all standing around for? Start walking." Hiruma ordered as he began walking forward, the rest following as Doburoku helped unload the temperamental bull from the truck.

Even with Hiruma's vast knowledge of all things important, Sena thought it was a little strange that Hiruma seemed to know exactly where he was going, so when he lead them to a cooking site, complete with barbeques and a table laden with food Sena could couldn't help but think that he'd somehow gotten a bird's eye view photograph of the ranch from a satellite.

With Hiruma it was possible.

With vigor they began preparing the food, all of them hungry since they had hardly eaten anything and the small snacks they'd had at the beach weren't very fulfilling. It wasn't long until the Wild Gunmen became aware of their presence and came over to help out.

"Sena? What are you guys doing here?"

Sena turned around from where he had been carefully chopping up some green peppers and gave Riku a smile.

"Your coach is letting us stay here a couple nights in return for transporting the bull he won to the ranch."

"Bull? He won a bull?" Riku asked incredulously and Sena nodded, turning back to his peppers.

"Yeah, some of us entered a beach football tournament together, the bull was one of the prizes."

"So you played with Kid-san?"

"Um-hm, and Tetsuma-san showed up right out of the blue to play, it was really amazing, he came right in the nick of time, as if he knew we needed him."

Riku chuckled. "It's not that amazing, it's just that while we were on the plane Kid-san told Tetsuma-san to wake him up in five hours. It just so happened that five hours later Tetsuma-san was on the bus and Kid-san wasn't, so he jumped out one of the windows to go find him."

Sena abruptly stopped cutting and turned to face Riku once again.

"He jumped out of window?! For real?! Now that's what I'd call extreme dedication."

"Yeah, sometimes he follows orders a little too precisely, but what can you do?" Riku shrugged his shoulders and softly kicked the grass. "Too bad I hadn't been there, I bet it would have been fun to play some beach football with you."

"Oh no, I'm not very fun, I didn't do all too much." Sena nervously went back to cutting his peppers, ignoring the disbelieving look he just knew Riku was sending his way. "So, did you come over here just to watch my mediocre cutting skills or did you want to lend me a hand?" Sena asked jokingly and Riku rolled his eyes.

"If I must, what did you need me to do?" Riku moved beside him and frowned at the other uncut vegetable laid out before him.

"I'll cut the green peppers, but I'm not cutting the onions, teary eyes don't suit me."

"... Are you insinuating that they suit me?" Sena asked as Riku took a pepper and began slicing it up.

"You can take it any way you want Sena." Riku replied in an almost sing-song tone of voice and with a sigh Sena took one of the onions that Cerberus hadn't eaten and began slicing it up. He had just finished the first one when Juumonji, Kuroki and Toganou passed by and he could tell from the snickering that Kuroki was trying to cover up that they'd seen his now red-rimmed, glossy eyes.

Riku frowned and turned to glare at them. "Do you guys have a problem or something?"

Juumonji cocked an eyebrow at him and crossed his arms with a smirk on his face. "What are you getting all over-protective for, do you have a crush on Sena 'or something'?"

Sena blushed. "J-Juumonji-kun! It's nothing like that, this is-"

"I'm Kaitani Riku, Sena's big brother."

There was a long pause before the inevitable happened.

"Huh?" "Huuh?!" "Huuuuh?!"

"We're not really related, he's just like a brother to me." Sena explained quickly, waving his arms in the air as if to dispel the confusion before turning to look at Riku. "Why do you keep telling people that?"

"Because the reactions are fun." Riku replied simply before turning to look at the Huh Huh Brothers.

"So, who are these guys then?"

"Juumonji-kun, Kuroki-kun and Toganou-kun, they're three of our linemen." Sena said as he pointed each one out and Riku sized them up.

"Alright, if you guys ever give Sena any trouble it'll be me you're answering to."

"Oh really?" Kuroki took a step forward and Sena resisted the urge to bury his head in his hands. "I bet I could take you on any day of the week."

"I'd like to see you try." Riku smirked and widened his stance, ready to push off from the ground at any moment.

"Alright, enough of this rising tension." Sena stepped between them, hands planted firmly on his hips. "Riku, we still have stuff to do. Kuroki-kun, stop pestering him or you'll find out what sort of things Riku would do to the kids who used to bully me in school."

Kuroki's eyes widened slightly. "Wait a minute! Wait just one minute! Does that mean..." He pointed a finger at Sena in disbelief. "That you really weren't part of a gang?"

The people with common sense, that is, everyone besides Kuroki, stared at the brunette incredulously before Toganou finally managed to get over it and smack him in the back of the head.

"Why the fuck do you still think that? You're the only one who thinks it's true and if he had been I'm sure Mamori wouldn't be so damned over-protective of him."

"It makes sense to me." Kuroki muttered and Toganou rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, to you, no one else."

Juumonji rubbed a hand against his temples, a small trace of a smile on his lips. "Alright guys, let's not distract the boys from their work any longer." He said as he turned to walk away, the other two following behind him.

Riku turned back to their workstation with a frown. "Me? Have a crush on you? As if. No offense Sena."

"None taken." Sena replied calmly. "Do you think we've cut enough green peppers yet?"

"If anyone has a crush on you it's probably him, he's the one who brought up the subject!"

"Riku, that's a really lame reason to think that someone has a crush on me." Sena said dryly and the fair haired boy turned to look at him with calculating eyes.

"Really? Then why did they walk over in this direction in the first place?"

"Maybe because we're teammates and they wanted to check up on me? Maybe they were just wandering? Or maybe because they like green peppers and onions and wanted to see if they were ready for the barbeque yet? Speaking of the green peppers-"

"But still-"

"Riku, no more of this crush talk, you'll start making me paranoid."

"Fine, fine, just remember that I'm only like this because I worry about you."

"And I'm very grateful that you still care about me that much. Now about those green peppers..."


	64. Chapter 64

FASH: Random Pocahontas reference in this chapter, because I know that someone other than me must have been thinking it when they saw the Indian Running. Anyways, thanks for your reviews guys, I hope you like this chapter.

""-speech

''-thoughts

After eating his fill Sena made his way to the barn where he and his teammates would be staying and fell down into the straw, closing his eyes and shifting to get comfortable, eyebrows furrowing when he heard the sound of gunfire and a couple people shouting: "Fight!"

He inwardly groaned and rolled over, trying to block out the sound.

"Hey Sena, Hiruma-san and Doburoku-sensei are fighting about something!" Monta shouted as he rushed into the barn. "Kurita-san and Mamori-san are trying to stop them, but it looks like they're just gonna keep going until one of 'em is down for the count."

Sena slowly sat up and ran a hand through his hair to take out and stay pieces of straw and yawned. "Do you have any idea what it's about? It must be pretty important if Doburoku-sensei isn't backing down, even after Hiruma-san started shooting."

Monta crouched down beside him. "I think it's about Musashi-san."

"Hmm... And this concerns me how?"

"Because we've all had a long day, you look like you could really use some sleep and the fight is slowly beginning to shift this way, so unless you can sleep though the sounds of it you'll have a rough time getting to sleep." Monta explained, eyes closed, pointing his index finger in the air and waving it slightly as he went on. "Plus, all things considered, if you go out there and ask Hiruma-san to stop he might actually consider it."

"Why?"

"Because you're the favorite, obviously."

"... What?"

"Just come on, you'll see what I mean." Monta took his hand and pulled him up, leading him out of the barn determined.

It was official, either Monta was extremely perceptive, which could be the case seeing as he had recognized Sena immediately after seeing him in his football uniform, or he was just a little crazy.

Sena allowed himself to be dragged towards the battle ground, through a crowd of amused football players until they reached the front of the crowd and Sena was left staring at Hiruma's back until, with a sigh, Monta pushed him forward.

With a roll of his eyes, not really expecting this to work _at all_, Sena coughed into his fist to try and grab the blonde's attention.

"What did you want, fucking shrimp?" Hiruma asked, not even bothering to turn around and check who it was as he reloaded his gun.

"Some people are trying to sleep and this ruckus is very disrupting."

"Ah, you you're afraid _some people_ will be unable to attain their much needed beauty sleep?" Hiruma threw him a devious look over his shoulder and Sena rose his eyebrows.

'Who are these 'some people' you're referring too?'

"Actually I'm afraid that without a proper amount of sleep I'll be mentally unprepared for whatever insane training schemes you'll come up with for this summer. So unless you want me in a sour, un-obedient mood in the morning could you _please_ cease and desist?"

"I'll be done with this soon." Hiruma promised, firing a couple more rounds at Doburoku, who's anger was beginning to fade due to the fear of the bullets that got closer with every shot.

"All right, just as long as it ends soon." Sena turned away and tiredly stumbled back into the barn, a smile settling on his face as soon as the sound of gunshots diminished.

He fell back down onto the straw and promptly fell asleep.

He awoke the next morning, thankfully not from the sounds of gunfire but instead to the sounds of a rather intense practice. He slowly sat up, rubbing at his eyes and staring down at himself in confusion when he felt material slide down his front into his lap.

He picked up the sweater between his thumb and pointer finger and held it out in front of him to get a better look at it.

"It's not going to come alive and kill you, you know."

Sena slowly turned around to see Hiruma sitting on top of some of the fencing in the barn, laptop in his lap as he typed away.

"Hiruma-san, is this yours?" Sena asked and Hiruma snorted.

"Don't go thinking it means anything, during the night the sound of your chattering teeth was distracting me from my work so I decided to rectify the problem."

Sena nodded, he hadn't really expected an answer much different from that. "Have you been working all night Hiruma-san? It's not good to miss out on too much sleep, even you need some rest sometime."

"You know what they say: no rest for the wicked."

Sena bit back his response of: you're not _that_ wicked, this friendly banter in the morning with Hiruma was a bit surreal and he wasn't sure if he wanted it to keep going, especially when other people were beginning to wake up from the sounds outside.

"Well thanks for silencing my chattering teeth then Hiruma-san." Sena stood up and folded the sweater in half before hanging on the fence Hiruma was on and wandering outside to watch Seibu's practice, Monta following after him a few moments later.

"It's kind of amazing to see so many people practicing at once." The receiver commented as he came to stand beside him, eyes keenly searching around the field until they landed on Tetsuma.

"There it is, that explosive break through!"

"Yeah, it was that difference in power that cost us the Aliens game..." Sena frowned. "If only I'd tried a bit harder at the end."

"Aw, you did the best you could after all that runnin' around during the game, I'm kinda surprised you even had enough energy to attempt the Devil Bat Ghost." Monta patted his shoulder consolingly before pausing, a thought striking him. "And you don't have to tell me if you don't want, and don't think I'm weird for bringing it up, but what was with that thing after the game?"

"Thing?"

"The dressing up thing. Were those the two you told me and Juumonji about way back when we went to see the White Knights versus the Nagas game?"

"Yeah, Hiruma-san figured they'd be looking for me after the game to say hello, and I guess I couldn't let my identity be compromised or something."

Monta 'hmm'ed and rubbed at his chin thoughtfully. "Kobayakawa Sena, the boy of a thousand different identities." He laughed and went to lean against the fence, only to step back at the last moment, looking down at it suspiciously. "What's up with this fence? It's so perfect, but the tops are all torn up." He flicked at one of the bent over tops curiously.

"The Gunmen are pretty good." A voice commented from behind them and they turned to see Doburoku walking towards the fence and picking up a stray piece of splintered wood. "But they're still keeping something in reserve for the fall season."

Monta and Sena shared a determined look.

"We'll do morning practice too! We can't lose! We'll get Musashi-san back because we're all going to the Christmas Bowl together!" Monta exclaimed, Sena nodding vigorously in agreement.

"I'm the trainer. It's my job to train those who want to win." Doburoku began purposefully. "Do you want to be stronger?"

"Yes sir." They said in unison and Doburoku smirked.

"Good, then let's get ready for that morning practice, Hiruma should have collected all the needed items by now." Doburoku turned and walked to the area behind the barn, Sena and Monta following behind him curiously.

As soon as they rounded to corner Hiruma tosses something at them. "Last ones here get the last pick of clothing, have fun getting it all on."

Sena picked up the set of clothes that had been tossed in front if him, delicately raising an eyebrow before looking back at his teammates. "Is there a reason why we'll be dressing up as Native Americans?"

"Cowboys and Indians." Hiruma said simply as he applied some war paint to his face, not bothering to put anything else on over his black tee-shirt and pants.

With a sigh Sena Sena slipped out of his running shoes and put on the moccasins, then the pants and shirt before picking up the elaborate headdress in front if him.

"I don't have to wear this too, do I? Where did you get all this stuff anyways?"

"Less yapping, more changing, hurry it up." Doburoku commanded. "You're going to start training for that explosive break through. Starting with 'Indian Running'!"

Sena put the headdress on with a sigh before turning to look at Monta, the two of them had the heaviest clothing on since they'd been the last to change.

'This is going to get really hot after a while.' He tugged at the cloth with a frown, the material didn't seem like it was going to be very breathable.

Once everyone was ready they began running as Doburou instructed, the trainer following after them on a horse, beating a drum to set the pace they were to go at.

"So does this 'Indian Running' just mean jogging with costumes on?" Sena asked Monta who turned back to look at him.

"Then is this how we're gonna develop the explosive break through ability? It doesn't seem that different from any normal trainin' to me."

"Hey, last guy in line!" Doburoku called, holding up a jug with an over mitt as Kuroki turned to face him. "Sprint to the front." He ordered, dumping the contents of the jug on Kuroki's head.

"That's freakin' hot!" Kuroki yelled as he dashed forward, most people giving him a worried look as he passed.

"Next up! Kurita, you're at the end, sprint!"

They went on like that for a while until Kuroki was once again at the back of the line before Yukimistsu's face dawned with comprehension. "Now I remember... Indian Running is a native American ritual, According to the rules, the very last person in line runs up to the front. It's an endurance test to see how long you can keep running until everyone gives out." He paused his explanation and took a deep breath. "It's now used as a kind of Fartlek training. By alternating aerobic and anaerobic exercise it increases heart and lung capacity and has the benefit of improving your ability to accelerate in a flash. So it does develop explosive break through ability."

Sena tried not to look too astonished at the explanation. "O-of course, I suppose you've read up on these sorts of things?"

Yukimitsu nodded and Monta gaped at them. "All I understood was that last part! Fartlek? Anaerobic? Confusing..."

"There will be a prize from our provisions." Doburoku announced from atop his horse. "Whoever runs longest gets a banana."

'What kind of idiot-'

"Now I'm fired up!" Monta exclaimed and Sena sweat-dropped, not realizing that Yukimitsu had passed by, leaving him at the end of the line.

"Now, anyone who stays on the end for more than one second gets hot water hell!"

"Ackk!" Sena swiftly dashed to the front of the line, sweat already beading on his forehead from the rising temperature of the morning and his heavy outfit.

They were able to keep on going for a fair amount of time but by the early afternoon none of them felt like they could go on any longer and one by one they collapsed on the ground, exhausted. Mamori, who'd dressed up even though she hadn't been part of the training, immediately went around to offer everyone water while Doburoku got off of the horse and stood among them.

"What, do you give up? You have no guts..." He took a sip from his jug, thinking he was carrying his sake only to find himself with a mouthful of boiling water. "You! That's hot!" He cried as he spat it back out while everyone watched on, to exhausted to laugh.

"Alright boys, we'd better get you out of these costumes and ready for lunch." Mamori said as she helped Sena up, looking him over in worry. "It's really unfair that you had to do all that in such a hot outfit, I'll make sure Hiruma-kun doesn't make you do anything else for the rest of the day."

"It wasn't that bad Mamori-neechan I'll be fine once I cool off a bit." Sena took off his headdress and ran a hand over his flushed face as he and Mamori lead the pack back to the barn, passing by Seibu's practice on their way.

"Hmm? They're in costumes too." Sena noted dryly, going closer to the fence to get a better look. "Are they the cavalry?"

"We sure are."

Sena jumped at the voice and turned to look at Riku, who'd taken off his hat to run a hand through his hair.

"Ah, so we're mortal enemies are we?" Sena murmured and Riku leant in a bit, eyebrows raising.

"Come again?"

"Oh nothing, I just think I understand why our guys dressed up like this for our practice." Sena gestured at himself and Riku nodded.

"Why are you and Mamori like that anyways? You guys aren't practicing too are you?"

"Oh, I think it's just to keep up the team moral." Mamori quipped from behind Sena, resting a hand on his shoulder. "Although Sena often does practice with the others."

"Oh really?" Riku gave Sena a hard, searching look.

"I just want to see if I can do everything they do, you know, test my limits."

"Oi! Pocahontas! Stop talking or your John Smith will get jealous." Hiruma called as he passed them and Sena turned to him, clearly confused.

"How does Hiruma-san even know the characters from a Disney movie?" He pursed his lips together.

"Wait a minute. If you're Pocahontas, who's John Smith?" Mamori questioned with wide eyes and Sena shrugged. "It's not... Eyeshield-kun hasn't followed us to America has he?" She swivelled around, searching for a face she thought she'd never seen.

"Eyeshield isn't here Mamori-neechan, don't worry about it. Anyways, we'd better get going before Hiruma-san gets too impatient, I'll see you later Riku." Sena waved and was off, Mamori following behind him after saying her own goodbyes.

Riku stared after them, eyebrows furrowing. "So who's John Smith then?"

They were allowed to spend the rest of their day at leisure and, not sure if there was anything else to do, Sena had taken to staring at the horses, something that was far more interesting then he would have thought due to certain resemblances he saw with people he knew.

"Monta. Monta." He whispered, drawing the other boy to his side as he pointed to a particularly fierce looking stallion. "Doesn't that horse remind you of someone?"

"Uh, no." Monta replied simply.

"Really? What about the one next to it?"

"I don't see any resemblance to anyone."

"B-but it looks like Shin-san! And look at that one! It's just like Kid-san!"

"You're just seeing things." Monta patted his back consolingly. "It's cause your brain got fried during the Indian Running, I'm sure after you rest you'll be back to normal soon enough."

Sena gaped at him. "You really don't see a resemblance?"

"They're _horses_, they can't look like humans, they just look like _other_ horses." Monta said intelligently.

Sena threw another look at the horses in the field. "Well, if you say so..." Still, this was one of those 'I wish I had a camera' moments, he was sure Takami and Sakuraba would have gotten a kick out of seeing what Shin would look like if he were a horse.

After Monta had dragged him away from the horses, apparently afraid that anymore staring would make him go delusional , they somehow found themselves squaring off against Juumonji, Kuroki, Toganou and Yukimitsu in an array of card games.

No matter which game they played Yukimitsu was somehow able to win _every single time_.

By the time the sun had begun to set both Sena and Monta had grown tired of constantly losing, so while Juumonji, Kuroki and Toganou stayed to try and win at least one game they made their way outside, Doburoku watching them cooly from when he was leaning against the side of the barn.

"Hey, kid." He addressed and both turned to look at him. "Did I hear that you're trying to beat Shin?"

"Yeah, why?" Sena questioned, catching the ball that Doburoku tossed his way.

"Try to get past me." Doburoku moved away from the wall to stand several meters away from Sena with a wide stance. "I'll see if you've got a chance."

"Yes sir." Sena shifted his feet apart and lowered his upper body before springing forward in his usual fashion, cutting to the left as he approached the trainer.

"Yeah! Awesome cut!" Monta called, a little too early, because Doburoku was able to push himself to the side and tackle Sena before he could get past.

"Not bad." He commented as he got up from the ground, dusting off his pants absentmindedly. "But speed isn't everything. If an old man like me can catch you, then against a real defense Eyeshield 21's fatal weakness can't be ignored."

"Fatal weakness?" Sena questioned, pushing himself off from the ground.

"Yes, against Shin and Panther, you've neglected something. When you've tried to push through with the ball, how many times have you made it?"

"Uh..."

"Hey, what did you mean by 'weakness'!" Monta demanded.

"There's no point in teaching you now. With the shape you're in now, you cannot beat Shin." He went back inside, leaving Monta fuming and Sena to stare at his retreating figure with wide eyes.

"_There's no point in teaching you now._" Monta mimicked, crossing his arms angrily. "Why the heck not? It's not like telling you what you're doing wrong will kill him."

"Maybe it's just something I need to learn on my own. You know, a self-awareness sort of thing."

"Well, you'd become aware of it after he told you."

"Yeah, but that's not exactly the point. Besides, I'm sure whatever it is that I'm doing wrong, we'll have plenty of time to rectify it over the summer. Wanna go back inside and see if anyone's tried to cheat Yukimitsu-san out of a win yet?"

"Sure, I bet the only one who could bet Yuki-san at cards though, cheating or not, is Hiruma-san." Monta rubbed at his chin thoughtfully as he walked forward. "That would be an ultimate showdown to the max."

Sena silently agreed.

Later that night, after almost everyone had gone to sleep Sena woke up to the sounds of hushed conversation.

"After seeing your Indian Running today I have a good idea of how strong you are." Doburoku was saying and Sena inconspicuously rolled over, peering out of almost shut eyes.

"For example, if this horse were Zokugaku."

"Wh-what a strange example." Kurita mumbled.

"The teams get better as you get close to the door. The Devil Bats are about there..." He pointed to the horse in the pen beside Zokugaku's.

'Gosh, how many people-resembling-horses live here?' Sena thought with a small smile. 'I really wish I had a camera.'

"What about Oujou? And Seibu?" Kurita asked.

"At that fence. And the NASA Aliens are beyond that fence. You guys were lucky to have a one point game against the Aliens. But as for Oujou and Seibu, they still have hidden strengths for the fall season."

"What do you think of Shinryuji?" Hiruma questioned.

"They're all the way at America's west coast."

The smile that had been on Sena's face disappeared. 'He's just being over dramatic, right?'

"Hmm... Maybe so." Hiruma responded unsurprised, as if he'd expected that answer.

"You're second years? Your last season is the fall of the third year... Who knows how far you can go in one years?"

"On Deimon's teams you can't play after second year." Hiruma said curtly and Doburoku abruptly spat out the sake he'd ben sipping on.

"We've got just over one month before our last chance. We'll make ourselves into the best team in forty days."

"You must be out of your mind! In only forty days-"

"We're gonna do a Death March."

Doburoku paused and was silent for several long moments and Sena opened his eyes a little wider, trying to make out his expression. 'Death March? It sure does sound like training Hiruma-san would put us through.'

"... No. That alone is no good, that's not training, it's sheer torture!" He yanked up the leg of his pants to reveal a large cross shaped scar around the area of his knee. "Doing a Death March is just idiocy! Right before your eyes, here's proof that idiocy can cut short the life of an athlete!"

Sena's eyes widened and his breath caught in his throat. 'Takami-niichan's scar isn't nearly that big, but it the injury still effects him so much. What kind of training method is this Death March?'

"Well, other than a Death March what kind of miracle could let us win the tournament?"

"You will die." Doburoku responded far too seriously for Sena's liking.

"We're not gonna die. We're going all the way to the Christmas Bowl!"

Sena turned onto his other side and saw Juumonji, the blonde's expression mirrored what Sena assumed his own expression was and their eyes met for one tense, awkward moment before Sena snapped his eyes shut.

'No one's going to die, Hiruma-san wouldn't let us die, because then he'd have to train new people to replace us. I'm sure no one's died on a Death March... Although they have gotten seriously injured and completely ruined their lives as athletes because of it... But that won't happen to us, we'll be more careful, we'll learn from the past...'

Sleep didn't find Sena as easily the second time around that night and by the time he was shaken awake by Monta he could have sworn he'd only just drifted off a couple hours ago.

"Come on Sena, we've got to get pack up." Monta said as he shook him some more. "And if you don't get up soon Hiruma-san will start shooting at you."

"I'm up, I'm up." Sena pushed himself into a standing position, not wanting to face Hiruma's wrath anytime soon, especially after the pessimistic train of thought he'd been having last night about the Death March.

Maybe he wouldn't be so freaked out about it if it had a different, less threatening name.

"Alright, after you pack everything up go back to the truck, we're going to the airport." Hiruma announced, slinging his own bag over his shoulder.

'The airport? Will we just be doing the Death March in Japan then?' That would make everything subsequently easier, but then again, when did Hiruma ever bother doing things the easy way when it came to training.

'He's up to something...' Sena had gathered up his things and was making his way to the truck, throwing a final look at Ben Ranch and the practicing Wild Gunmen over his shoulder, eyes searching for but unable to find Riku's form in the crowd of people. Had he been a bit braver he might have search for him a bit more actively, possibly interrupting other's practice, to say goodbye, but as it was he was still a bit too timid to attempt something like that.

Upon getting onto the back of the truck Sena settled himself down beside Monta and leaned against the side of the truck, shutting his eyes in hopes that he'd be able to get a little more sleep

"hey Sena, where do you suppose Hiruma-san got the money to get plane tickets back to Japan?" Monta questioned.

"Maybe Coach Apollo? Or maybe this is all some sort of trap..."

"Trap?"

"Mm-hm, giving us false hope or something, although that probably wouldn't help when we have to train..." Sena yawned and Monta didn't question him any further.

He was asleep before the truck even started moving.

Sena was again was awoken due to someone shaking him, although Mamori was much gentler about it then Monta.

"Come on Sena, we're at the airport now."

Sena slowly opened his eyes and glanced around. "Are we just bypassing customs this time around or something? Why are we right by the landing strips."

"Hiruma-kun _said_ he took care of everything beforehand. Here's your ticket, I'm going to go on first, just to make sure this isn't _entirely_ illegal, I should be able to talk myself out of it if anything goes wrong." She handed Sena the ticket and nodded to herself confidently before jumping out of the back of the truck and striding towards the plane.

Sena took a close look at the ticket and wondered when Hiruma had the time to buy them, unless he'd had the return tickets all along and just wanted to watch them sweat.

"Alright kids, get out of the truck and form a line facing forward." Doburoku called and everyone complied, a couple eyebrows raising as Hiruma dragged the top of the barrel of one of his new gun against the ground, leaving a small but noticeable line in the concrete.

"This summer, fucking fatty and I are training in America. Anyone who's with us, step over this line!" The blonde yelled over the sound of a plane taking off.

"It's a 'Death March'!" Doburoku continued. "No one has ever survived unscathed! The weak must be weeded out! We can't guarantee your safety, so you're not required to stay. But this year's fall season has the strongest lineup ever. This is your only chance to win." Doburoku turned his attention to the plane before his eyes flickered back to the group in front of him.

"If you get on that plane, you'll go home to your mama and a warm bed. Only those who are willing to die to become strong..." He clenched the fist holding his plane ticket, the paper scrunching up. "Rip up your ticket to paradise, and come with us to hell!"


	65. Chapter 65

FASH: Okay, I posted up random fanart again with that Pocahontas theme, because I had to. Sorry these replies are kind of late, I didn't look at the reviews before posting the last chapter, anyways, Sisco, if you did that it would be awesome! Agon/Sena needs more love! Cyne, I know that the final pairing will be slash, I'm just not sure with who yet, I'm going to see where the story takes it. And HiruSena fan 2.0, I'm pretty open to little requests and suggestions, so you can just ask away and I'll see what I can do.

""-speech

''-thoughts

"No one is pushing you, you must decide for yourselves. Will you go home in peace? Or will you commit suicide in Hell, Devil Bat style?"

Sena looked along the line curiously, wondering how many of them would end up stepping forward.

"If you cross that line there's no going back on the Death March. Can you survive forty days of Hell. Or will you die?!"

'I really wish he would stop mentioning death and Hell.'

"Y-you don't have to!" Kurita quickly piped up. "If you get on that plane you can enjoy summer vacation in Japan!"

Sena pursed his lips together. 'It's not that I wouldn't mind training in the summer, but whatever we're doing is going to be tough and reckless, if I were to badly injure myself and became unable to play...' He trailed off, catching movement in his peripheral vison and he turned to see Monta step over the line.

"Oho! It's only the monkey?"

"It's Monta! As in Joe Montana!"

Hiruma cocked an eyebrow in mild disbelief. "You still believe that?"

"I see, the monkey is pretty easy to convince... How about this, those of you who step across the line, introduce yourselves to me before you die on the Death March."

Monta nodded and cleared his throat before beginning. "I'm Raimon Taro! Number eighty! Position, wide receiver! Blood type, B! Favorite food, bananas! I like the word 'effort'! The person I like is Mamo-" He coughed into his fist, cheeks turning pink. "My favorite sport is-"

"You can stop now, we get the gist of it." Doburoku interrupted with a wave of his hand.

Monta ripped his ticket. "Now, my favorite sport is football!"

Sena's eyes widened minutely and a wide smile spread across his face.

Yukimitsu was the next to move from beside Sena to step across the line.

"I'm Yukimitsu Manabu, number sixteen! Position... I don't have one yet."

"Tsk... Cool..." Kuroki muttered under his breath before he and Toganou turned away.

"I'm not going to spend my entire summer doing some hellish march of death, let's go Juumonji."

"Are you sure?" The blonde asked and the pair paused, slowly turning to look at him. "There are weaker guy then us ready to fight... Like Yukimitsu and Eyeshield 21..." His eyes flickered over to Sena before they locked on his friends. "How long are you gonna let everyone call you 'useless garbage'? During the Aliens game, didn't we block for a second there? If we can win everyone will have to accept us."

Kuroki and Toganou shared a look and Kuroki ran a hand through his hair distractedly.

"How about it Toganou? Juumonji's all fired up about this."

Toganou sighed. "I guess I'll just have to make due with reading American comics then."

The three stepped over the line in unison, all of them wearing a serious expression.

"Juumonji Kazuki! Number fifty one! Position, lineman!"

"Kuroki Kouji! Number fifty two! Ditto!"

"Toganou Shouzou! Fifty three! I'm a lineman too!"

"Komusubi D-Daikichi!" Was called and everyone turned to see Komusubi from where he was standing by Kurita.

"Woah, I didn't even see him step across the line." Toganou commented and Sena couldn't help but think that Komusubi might have been behind Kurita all along.

'Even if this training is going to be reckless, at least I won't be doing it alone. Everyone wants to be on the team and we'll all become stronger! I want to get rid of my weakness, I want to win!' He stepped forward, eyebrows furrowing in determination as he ripped his ticket.

"Kobayakawa Sena! Number twenty one! Position, running back!"

"HUUH?" "You're Eyeshield 21?" "What the-"

All other questions were cut off as Hiruma began shooting skyward, attracting the attention of Mamori who was bound to run off of the plane any second now.

"All right, it's settled. Our special training participants on the suicide pact Death March in America are the entire Deimon Devil Bats team!... Or at least all the ones who came along in the first place anyways."

From the corner of his eye Sena saw Mamori exit the plane and he quickly turned to face everyone.

"I know this may be a bit sudden, but Mamori-neechan doesn't know about me being Eyeshield, so if you all could keep it a secret it would be much appreciated!"

"Huh? You mean even though she's so close to you she hasn't figured it out yet?" Juumonji questioned and Sena shook his head quickly.

"No, no, no, and I'm hoping she won't find out for a while yet."

"How are you going to explain the Death March to her then? I'm pretty sure she's not going to want to let you out of her sight."

"Oh, I'll think of something, hopefully." Sena's voice trailed of in a whisper as Mamori approached, eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"What are you all still doing out here, we've got to get on the plane soon or it'll take off without us."

"Actually, we were thinking that maybe we'd all stay in America for some more training." Sena smiled weakly. "Surprise."

"More training? But everyone can just train in Japan! Or at the very least the two of us could go home, your parents will be worried sick by now, they didn't even get to say goodbye to you."

"If the fucking shrimp wants to stay in American with us that's his choice, so, what will you do?" Hiruma asked with a sly grin and Mamori glared at him angrily.

"I'm going to stay with Sena of course!" She moved to stand beside him, clasping her hands against his shoulders. "There are some,_ things_, I need to observe and figure out."

Sena gulped nervously. 'She's not putting the pieces of the puzzle together is she? The Indian Running, staying in America, never being around when Eyeshield is...'

"By the way Hiruma-kun, when exactly were you planning to inform me that everyone was going to stay in America?"

"Ha, I knew you'd get off the plane eventually when you realized the shrimp hadn't come on yet. Now then, let's all get back in the truck, we've got some stuff to do before we begin the Death March!" Hiruma yelled as he made his way to the truck, everyone else following after him obediently.

Once they all settled down and Doburoku began driving Mamori turned to Sena, eyeing him in an almost suspicious way.

'She can't figure it out! She's not allowed to know yet!' Sena inwardly cried, throwing a desperate look over to Hiruma who just smirked at him. 'Hiruma-san doesn't seem worried about it though, but won't it be troublesome for him if she finds out?'

"Sena, there's something I need to ask you and be sure to answer truthfully." She began seriously, looking directly into his eyes and Sena fought the urge to look away. "You said that Eyeshield-kun didn't come to America, right?" She asked and Sena slowly nodded, all to aware of the questioning looks he was getting from everyone else.

"But there is someone I don't know the identity of, and if it's impossible for him to be Eyeshield-kun, then who is he? Who is your John Smith?"

"... What?"

"Are there any boys that act strangely around you? It is very important that you tell me so that you stay safe during this trip."

"Safe from what?" Sena asked incredulously, he was happy that Mamori hadn't caught onto the fact that he was Eyeshield, but he wasn't sure if he liked where this was going either.

She leaned in a little closer, whispering so low that he could hardly hear her say: "Sexual harassment."

"... Mamori-neechan, I high doubt there is anyone in this truck who wants to harass me in that way. You're just being paranoid." He responded dryly. "Hiruma-san probably only said something like that to make you get overly concerned."

"No, that's not it. Hiruma-kun doesn't like it when I, you know, smother you, so he'd have no reason to make me even more concerned. It has to be true, so keep your eyes peeled for any suspicious activity, all right?"

"Uh... Okay."

"Good." Mamori turned away, looking quite pleased with herself and Sena frowned slightly as he turned to look at Hiruma.

'He must have just said it on purpose so that Mamori-neechan would be distracted during the Death March so that she doesn't figure out I'm training too, or something along those lines... Right? But why would Mamori-neechan ask me about that when she could have just asked Hiruma-san who, if he wasn't lying, would know the answer? Or maybe she already asked him and he just brushed her off.'

Oh, this was going to be quite a summer. He was going to have to keep his identity a secret, make sure Mamori didn't jump to any conclusions about his love life and he had the Death March to worry about.

'And then once I get home, jeez, some people won't want to let me out of their sight.' He sighed and slumped against the side of the truck. 'At least I'll have forty days of freedom before getting permanent house arrest.'

"So, what was that mini interrogation about?" Juumonji asked once Mamori's attention had been averted elsewhere.

"Oh, you don't want to know, she's just paranoid about something Hiruma-san said... Although this is kind of natural actually, I think most of my older friends have gotten worried about that sort of thing or mentioned something about it. They're all just thinking to hard on it though."

"Now I'm more curious then before." Juumonji smirked and shifted closer. "Come on, what was she asking you about? Is she figuring _that_ out?"

"Nope, she just wants to know if there's anyone here who wants to sexually harass me."

Juumonji's jaw dropped and he made a strange, choked sound.

"Juumonji-kun, are you alright?" Sena asked worriedly and the blonde quickly snapped his mouth shut and nodded.

"Yeah, it's just where would she get an idea like that? Was it because of the cross-dressing, saving some dude's life thing?" He whispered.

"No, Hiruma-san is just implanting these thoughts into her mind. I'm assuming it's supposed to make her focus on everyone other than me during the Death March because she'll want to single out my 'mystery man' and give him a firm talking to."

"I see, so it would be one of those: you break his heart and I'll break your neck situations?" Juumonji questioned with a grin.

"Actually, to be honest, I think it would be one of those: if you even think about going near him I'll castrate you situations."

"Castrate?"

"Yeah. Not to mention what else they'd have to go through back home. Takami-niichan can sometimes be pretty scary when he plots. Julie-neechan might support them, but only if she thought they were a better match for me then Akaba-san who, for some reason, she thinks I have a crush on. Unsui-san and Agon-san... Well, I think it's safe to say, with friends like those I'll never have to worry about having a love life, it seems pretty impossible." Sena nodded to himself and Juumonji stayed silent until they made it to their first stop before the Death March, a restaurant.

"All right, this is going to be the last time in a long while that you'll get to eat stuff like this, you'd better enjoy it." Doburoku called as they walked inside, Hiruma flipping his laptop open as soon as he sat down while the others ordered.

A while after their food had been brought out Mamori went to get them some more drinks and Kuroki took the opportunity to bring up the topic of Sena's alternate identity.

"So, you're Eyeshield 21, huh?" He gripped a ketchup bottle and pointed it at Sena with a smirk. "You really play dirty! Like when you did that TV interview about your homicide tackle or whatever you called it."

"Now, now Kuroki-kun, that matter was out of my control." Sena said, raising up his hands as if in surrender.

"And that whole Notre Dame story is fake too right? Man, if only the girls at school could know, they've been swooning over Eyeshield 21 ever since the game against Zokugaku."

Sena's eyes widened slightly. "You mean there are girls that have crushes on me?"

Kuroki snorted. "You didn't notice? They'd been gossiping about you for weeks, Apparently under the helmet you're a sexy play boy with a dazzling smile and bedroom eyes."

"... Really? How did they come up with that?"

"Who knows? Anyways, I guess this whole Eyeshield 21 thing explains why you can dodge my flying fists of fury and why you're not afraid of _him_." Kuroki made a vague gesture in Hiruma's general direction. "But I still like my theory better."

Toganou sighed. "Please don't get started on that again, especially now that you know for sure that it's not true."

"What's not true?" Mamori asked as she came back to the table with the drinks.

"Oh, just some idle gossip, nothing to be concerned about." Toganou said with an air of dismissal just as Hiruma looked up from his laptop.

"Hey guys." He began with a grin. "On Football Monthly's website they've got the Tokyo District Fall Season tournament brackets."

"Ah, is the fall season here at last?!" Kurita asked clenching his fists in excitement.

Sena leaned in closer, reaching his arm over Hiruma's shoulder to point at the screen.

"Here's Deimon, and Oujou's on the other side."

"So we won't play them until the finals." Monta mused as he rubbed his chin. "That's good for you right, since you and Shin-san promised to meet each... Other..." He trailed off and coughed into his fist as Mamori turned and gave them a curious look.

"Who do we play in the first game?" She asked as she wandered over to get a better look at the screen.

"The Amino Cyborgs."

"Cyborgs?"

"Also know as 'the game stealing Amino'. Last year they did soccer, the year before they did basketball, each year they hone in on a single sport and the entire student body works together to win." Hiruma explained in a bored tone, eyes flickering over to Sena.

"You probably know of them, right?"

"I think Takami-niichan told me about them once before, because he knew they'd get into football eventually, apparently they've done really well in their prior sports."

"They'll have collected a bunch of data on us and will have specific training regimes, exercises and vitamin intakes to deal with us, but..." Hiruma clasped his hands together and smirked darkly. "No one can keep tabs on our training out here, so by the time the fall season starts they won't know what hit 'em!"

"That makes sense." Sena agreed before leaning next to Hiruma's ear. "And the reason you're making Mamori-neechan paranoid about the other guys here is so she'll keep tabs on them, not me, during the Death March, right?" He asked, just to be certain.

"Heh, not everything I say s a lie meant to benefit myself, I tell the truth, sometimes."

"Yeah, but that John Smith thing wasn't one of those times right?"

Hiruma's eyes momentarily flickered to focus on something behind Sena before moving back on him.

"Well, it's more enjoyable if you find out for yourself, have fun with that."

After eating they went to a nearby gas station and Doburoku sullenly began filling up the tank.

"I'm going broke on gas." He muttered.

"That's the money for our flight back to Japan." Hiruma said from behind him and Sena slowly turned to look at the blonde.

"Then how are we gonna get back for the fall season?"

"We'll walk all the way to Japan." He explained, blowing a bubble nonchalantly.

"HUUUUH?!"

"Walk?" Yukimitsu began uncertainly. "What about the ocean?!"

"We have a source of money on the west coast, and since it's closer to Japan plane tickets from there are cheaper." Hiruma explained and Yukimitsu sighed in relief.

"But... A source of money? Where are we going?" Mamori asked.

"Las Vegas." Hiruma and Doburoku replied in unison.

"You can't call that a source of money!" Mamori yelled in exasperation. "I should have expected something like this, we aren't even old enough to-"

"Okay, let's go!" Doburoku interjected. "We've got less than forty days to go 2,000 km from Texas to Las Vegas! Cross Country American ultra-training!"

"This is the Death March?" Monta questioned, stupefied.

"Looks like it really will be hell." Sena answered, although he hadn't really expected much different.

"Heh heh... There's nothing sweet about the Death March." Hiruma began as he popped open the briefcase he'd brought to the gun shop. "Since we're doing three years' worth or training in forty days..." He took out a gun and stood back up. "We'll do a marathon while we do position-specific practice!"

"Square In!" He shouted, shooting at Yukimitsu and Monta's feet and they quickly rushed to complete the route. "Zig Out!"

"We're gonna do this for 2,000 km?" Sena questioned incredulously. 'Hiruma-san is going to destroy a lot of pavement.'

"We can do it! We're the linemen!" Kurita nervously assured the others.

"Yeah?" Doburoku moved to stand beside the truck and rested a hand against it. "There isn't enough gasoline to get us all the way to the west coast. How do you feel about pushing the Devil Bat Truck with all the luggage?"

"Huh...?"

"Hurry it up! There's five of you and one truck, I'm sure you'll be able to manage. You knew you'd be getting into something during the Death March, there's a reason why I call it a suicide pact."

The five linemen shot each other a look before going to the back of the truck and beginning to push. By the time nearly seven minutes had passed they had hardly made any progress at all, just managing to move off of the gas station's property onto the road.

"What are you doing!" Doburoku yelled from the front seat. "At this rate it'll take more than ten years to get to Las Vegas!"

Sena worriedly gazed at the linemen from his spot at the side of the road. 'They're already beginning to sweat, they're going to need a lot of water to keep themselves hydrated.' He turned as he saw Mamori approach him, two large bottles in hand.

"Sena, will you be in charge of water? I'll buy some, and you can hand it out from the back of the truck."

"Alright, did you need me to do anything else?"

"Hmm, actually..." She gripped his hand and lead him onto the back of the truck, propping an umbrella up and then laying a sheet over him. "Wear this to avoid sun stroke, okay?"

"Alright..."

"Good." Mamori walked back to the gas station and went inside.

"Sena." Doburoku called lowly as she left, tossing a rock up into the air with one hand. "This is for you, get out of the truck before she comes back."

"Okay." Sena looked around and spotted Cerberus on the other side of the truck and quickly moved to throw the sheet over him and lay the umbrella next to him before climbing down the side of the truck and Doburoku tossed the rock down in front of him.

"So, am I going to be kicking the stone?"

"Yep, oh, and if you lose that stone, you'll have to do the entire 2,000 all over again."

"Wh-what?" Sena looked down at the rock. "But... What if it breaks in half?"

"Don't think about it, just start kicking the damn rock already."

"Yes sir." Sena began at a steady pace. 'I wonder what the point of doing this is?'

Doburoku watched him set off, bringing his jug to his lips in contemplation. 'Maybe if he doesn't lose that stone, if he can make it all the way to the west coast on top of overcoming his fatal weakness if he can master that killer cut, then not even Shin can stop him!'

He looked over his should as Mamori approached. "Take the wheel!" He ordered.

"Huh? Yes sir." She quickly obeyed, but not before placing the water she bought beside 'Sena'.

Three hours into the Death March and everyone was already beginning to feel worn out.

"Long Post!" Hiruma called, seemingly as energetic as ever as he ran after Monta and Yukimitsu.

"This is... worse than normal running... This is tough max!" Monta managed to say in between labored breaths.

"It's called 'journey running'... Marathons where you run about eighty km a day. But it can't be healthy to run so far in one day." Yukimitsu answered, nearly out of breath.

"Stop dragging your feet, fucking shrimp!" Hiruma turned around and shot at Sena.

"But I'm kicking the stone! Please don't shatter it!"

The linemen, who still weren't making very good time, had been instructed by Doburoku to take a break and by the time the runners had made it to their previously set location to stop he had shifted Mamori into the passenger seat so that he could drive the rest of the way up.

"Huh? Did we only make it half as far as the runners?" He mused lowly. "If we don't catch up, they won't get to eat. At this pace we're gonna waste gas all the way to Las Vegas."

And back at the site Monta, who'd _just_ caught his breath, was somehow able to speak. "The Death March is tough." He gasped. "And this goes on for forty days?!"

"But... All teams do this sort of tough practice." Sena asked from where he was laying against the cooling cement. "Since the time limit is forty days." He slowly pushed him up into a sitting position. "Hiruma-san, Amino is very... _Attune_ with sport medicine and the like right, what sort of training do you suppose they're doing?"

"Hmm. They're probably only training every third day." Hiruma's eyes wandered down the road as the Devil Bat Truck came into sight.

"What? Why are they so laid back with their training!?" Monta demanded as he pushed himself up from the ground.

"We'll get into that soon enough, the others are almost here." Hiruma casually threw the pack over his shoulder and stepped onto the back of the truck once it had stopped, Sena, Monta and Yukimitsu following after him with a bit more effort.

"I think it's time to explain to you why these forty days of training will equal out to several years' worth." Doburoku began calmly. "It's called 'super recovery'."

"Super recovery?!"

"Your muscles are sore now, right? Your muscular tissue is shredded. If you rest now, you're muscles gain strength as they heal and grow bigger than before. That's why it's called 'super recovery'."

"So that's how weight training works." Monta commented and Doburoku nodded.

"But after training, if you can't enable the super recovery by resting for at least 24 hours, there's no point."

"But we only have forty days. If we rest after every day, we'll never make it to Las Vegas." Hiruma continued the train of thought.

"Then... What will we do?" Sena asked, unsure if he should fear the answer.

In a flash of movement Hiruma had placed headbands with light fixtures attached to them on his own, Monta, Sena and Yukimitsu's heads.

"By training all night, we can get in two days worth of training!" He began as he kicked them out of the truck and began shooting at their feet to get them going. "All along it's been called the Death March, if we train all night, then we can finish the program twice as fast!"

"And build twice the muscle! And double the super recovery!" Doburoku called as he ushered the linemen out of the truck.

"Two days and nights of training, followed by one day of rest over and over?" Toganou questioned with a frown.

"Dammit, they're out of their minds!" Kuroki said angrily as he began to push the truck for the second time that day.

'This is going to be a long night, I hope I don't lose my stone in the dark.'


	66. Chapter 66

FASH: We're finally going into volume ten! And school for me starts on Wednesday, I hope to get in another update before then and then I'll try and get one up ASAP.

""-speech

''-thoughts

"_Speaking in English"_

That night was possibly the longest one Sena had ever gone through. He'd nearly lost his rock in the small shrubs that grew beside the road several times and even with the light affixed to his headband it was hard to keep track of it while he kicked it. Not to mention that if he ever fell too far behind the others Hiruma would turn around and do his thing.

'Kicking this rock is harder than I thought it would be.'

By the time the early hours of the morning rolled around and everyone was allowed to stop he was fairly certain that training like this all summer long would be the death of him.

But at least he wouldn't be dying alone.

"Be sure to ice down, don't let yourself swell." Doburoku instructed as he and Mamori began handing out ice.

"And be sure to start again in twenty four hours." Hiruma called as he moved behind the truck to where they could no longer see him.

"Hiruma-san's the only one who seems fine, huh?" Monta mumbled.

"But he shouldn't be." Yukimitsu interjected. "He was shooting along-side us, calling out the pass routes and carrying that heavy pack while giving orders."

"It can be done then! If we train, we'll be fine!" Monta exclaimed and Sena threw a doubtful look at the spot he'd last seen Hiruma before he realized that Mamori was slowly making her way to the spot.

"Wait, Mamori-neechan." He quickly got up and walked over to her. "I'll go see if he's okay."

"But Sena, what if he's being moody?"

"I'll be fine, besides, your's and Hiruma-san's personalities clash quite a bit, I think it would be a bit safer for everyone if I were the one to check to see if he was okay." He explained and with a sigh Mamori handed him some bandages and ice.

"Just be careful." She warned and Sena nodded before moving to the other side of the truck where Hiruma sat on his briefcase, typing on his laptop, his right pant leg had been rolled up past the knee and one of his hands was slowly ghosting over the area.

Sena determinedly strode forward and knelt in front of Hiruma, threading the bandage behind his knee.

"What the hell are you doing?" Hiruma asked with a cocked eyebrow, pausing his typing for a moment to stare down at Sena who smiled up at him.

"Isn't it obvious? I'm taking care of you since you're too stubborn to do something about this yourself. Now keep your knee still."

Hiruma complied, although not before smirking and murmuring how sweet Sena was in a sarcastic tone.

"Alright, you're all better now." Sena said after he'd finished wrapping it up and placed an ice pack on it. "Are there any other parts of you that need my attention?"

Hiruma chuckled lowly for a reason Sena couldn't quite understand before he shook his head. "I'm fine, go take care of some other people."

"You're sure you're not hiding any other injuries from me?"

"I'm positive. Now go on." Hiruma flicked his hand at him in a dismissive gesture as his eyes became glued to the screen of his laptop.

Sena stood up and turned away to leave, a small smile spreading across his lips when he heard a murmured: "Thanks."

He stepped back around the truck, raising an eyebrow when he saw Kuroki, Toganou and Juumonji appeared to be having a serious, hushed conversation several meters away.

"Are you okay? Hiruma-kun wasn't mean to you was he?" Mamori asked as she came up beside him and Sena turned to her, shaking his head.

"Hiruma-san was fine. But what's going on over there?"

"Kuroki-kun and Toganou-kun's resolve to do the Death March appears to be weakening after the first day and night of training, but Juumonji-kun says that he'll be able to keep it under control." She tilted her head to the side curiously. "Those two, they've been with the team for a fairly long time now, I don't think that they honestly want to leave, Juumonji-kun will make sure they realize that, so there's nothing for us to worry about." She wrapped an arm around Sena's shoulders and lead him over to where the others were, yawning behind her hand.

"I think it's about time we all settled down for some rest, just twenty four more hours until we start up again." She crawled up onto the back of the truck and grabbed a couple pillows that Sena was sure hadn't been there before, setting one down underneath her and the other beside her.

"Come here Sena, you're going to need lots of rest, you have an important job to keep up with." She said tiredly, eyes beginning to close as Sena laid beside her.

"I know Mamori-neechan, I'll be sure to keep up with it." He whispered as he shut his eyes, not bothering to move away when Mamori threw a protective arm over him, apparently she was set defending him even in her sleep.

'I hope Monta doesn't throw a fit about this.' Was his last thought before he drifted off.

He woke up again to find his eyelids being pried open and he groaned at the invasion of light that managed to come through.

"Ya-ha! I told you I could wake him up!"

"Hiruma-kun, that's so mean, couldn't you have been gentler? You're getting in his personal space!"

The fingers that kept his eyes open slowly moved away and Sena clenched his eyes shut for several moments before opening them up again, staring up at Hiruma curiously.

"Hiruma-san, what's going on?"

"It's time to get up, everyone else has already fulfilled their required amount of beauty sleep, so you don't need anymore either." Hiruma responded as he leapt off of the back of the truck and Sena sat up, blinking slowly.

"How long have I been asleep?"

"Around eight hours. I told Hiruma-kun to let you keep sleeping but he said if you didn't get up you'd become exhausted from over-sleeping." She crossed her arms and her cheeks puffed out in anger. "Honestly, I can't see why it's such a big deal, it's not like you're running routes or pushing the truck, it's okay if you're a little sleepy."

"Oh, it's probably for the best that I get up around the same time as everyone else, and we'll probably have a couple more hours of sleep before we start up again, I'll be fine." Sena said as he stood up and walked past Mamori to the edge of the truck.

"Well, if you say so. He still could have woken you up in a more common fashion, although his comment about beauty sleep made me a bit nervous."

Sena paused before climbing down from the truck and slowly turned to look at her in mild disbelief. "And why did it make you nervous?"

"Well, beauty sleep, sleeping beauty, a kiss to wake you up, I know I'm probably over-thinking these things, but I can't help it now."She ran a hand through her hair nervously. "I'd hate it if something happened to you because I was unaware of the situation."

"Mamori-neechan, I'm fairly certain that Hiruma-san of all people would never bother waking someone up like _that_." Sena was able to say once he regained his composure and he stepped off the truck.

"I suppose you're right, why kiss them awake when you can shoot at them?" Mamori chuckled weakly as she followed Sena off of the truck. "I'll go get you something to eat, okay?" She turned and walked to the front of the truck.

"Sena! Sena! I need your opinion on something!" Monta called, waving him over energetically.

"Here we go again." Toganou muttered as Monta cleared his throat before dramatically turning and pointing a finger right in Sena's face.

"Just like we promised, we've pulled ourselves from the depths of hell!"

"... What's that?"

"I've been practicing what to say to Shin-san when we meet in the finals, I thought it up last night after you fell asleep, it sounds cool right?"

"Well, I guess so, but isn't it kind of early for that? We've still got a while before the tournament even starts, and then we have to make it to the finals."

"It's never to early to think up amazing things to say, besides, I'm sure we'll be able to make it to the finals no matter what, we all promised to go to the Christmas Bowl right? And since Oujou is on the opposite side of the bracket they'll be the ones we'll be facing for sure!"

"Hm? They didn't really do to well in the Seibu or Shinryuji games though." Juumonji commented dryly.

"But we're not the only ones going through some extreme summer training." Sena said defensively. "Besides, Shin-san told me he'd be waiting for me at the finals."

"Do you believe everything he says?" Juumonji asked with a cocked eyebrow.

"Of course, Shin-san wouldn't lie to me." Sena stated confidently just before Mamori came over, efficiently shutting down their conversation.

Sena slowly nibbled on what he supposed was breakfast, although it was well after noon, eyes going unfocused from thought.

'We've got to get stronger, because this fall Shin-san's going to be even better, and he won't be the only one who's improved...' He blinked, eyes focusing once again as Monta waved a hand in front of his face.

"Hey Sena." He whispered once he was sure he'd gotten the other brunette's attention. "Have you thought up any cool things to say once we go back to Japan? Come on, you can tell me."

Sena pursed his lips together in thought before responding. "Please don't kill me."

"Wha-? I'm not going to kill you Sena!"

"No, that's what I'll probably end up saying."

"Oh." Monta blinked slowly as he processed the information. "And... Who are you saying that to?"

"Various people, but mostly my parents, my mom specifically."

"Why?"

"Because not only was I unable to say goodbye to her personally before my cell phone was confiscated, but I also promised to do something for her after the Aliens game and, well, it's kind of hard to do what I promised when we're all in America."

"Really?" Monta leaned in closer, eyes wide with curiosity. "What did you promise her?"

"That I'd bring all my friends over." Sena ran a hand through his hair with a sigh. "She's been really curious about you all, I think it might be because she's under the impression that you don't actually exist." He buried his head in his hands in exasperation. "It's like she thinks it's impossible for me to make friends myself."

Monta patted his shoulder. "Well, at least she cares enough about you that she's overly concerned instead of being, you know, not concerned about you at all."

"I suppose you're right, but it would still be weird, just rounding everyone up to come to my house and meet my mother..." Sena slowly rose his head from his hands to look at Monta.

"What? Is there something on my face?" Monta asked, worriedly wiping the back of his hand against his mouth.

"No, it's just... Once we get back to Japan and we've settled down, did you wanna come over?"

"Sure, that'd be cool." Monta gave him the thumbs up. "I'm a great example of friendship, right?"

Sena grinned widely and nodded.

The rest of the day was spent lazing around until midnight when they settled down for several hours of rest before having to go through their hellish training again.

It was kind of like washing hair: lather, rinse, repeat. Except in their case it was: train until you feel like you're going to die but keep going because you're not allowed to rest yet, have a twenty four hour break for the super recovery, repeat.

A couple days into the Death March and Sena thought he was starting to get an idea of what his weakness was, although he couldn't be certain since Doburoku was keeping tight lipped about it.

He was beginning to notice that whenever he kicked the stone he'd brake without adjusting his speed, and he'd end up falling way behind the other runners. But what really made him start thinking was when he tripped on a crack in the pavement, probably caused by Hiruma, and was flung forward, taking several large strides and a short step before he was able to stop.

He'd hadn't slowed down to kick the rock, but he'd still been able to kick it.

Now the only question was what did this apply to? He knew that he usually slowed down a bit before speeding forward in his 'change of pace', but he never really came to a complete stop.

'When I went up against Doburoku-sensei he was able to get me just after I made a hard cut and I... I had put on the brakes for just a moment so that I could fling myself to the side...'

He began kicking the rock again, staring at it curiously as he attempted to kick it without breaking again.

'Kicking the stone is just like making cuts in football. Right before I change direction my legs sputter before I brake, so I end up losing speed. In that case, I've just got to sprint all out to the very last minute. Only when I'm on my last step should I shorten my stride suddenly and stop for a single step!' He did so with the rock, only to nearly trip over again as his knee nearly gave out from pain.

"Jeez!" He clasped at his throbbing knee, thankful that he was in the middle of the pack so no one was able to see him.

"This is gonna call for incredible leg strength." He murmured before standing up straight again and flexing his leg muscles. "But once we're done the Death March, if I can do this without feeling any pain, then I'm sure I'll be able to beat Shin-san!" He excitedly pumped a fist into the air.

Later that day as the sun began to set they were able to make it into a city and, thanks to Hiruma's Devil's Handbook, were able to procure a couple motel rooms for the night and have a shower after what seemed like ages of cleaning themselves off with damp towels.

"Hiruma-san, are we ever going to do a full team practice?" Sena asked as he dried his hair with one of the towels that Mamori had been handing out to everyone, unsuccessfully trying to hold back a yawn.

"If we don't assign each players ability, then a full team practice won't mean jack, will it." Hiruma replied calmly as he opened up his briefcase and pulled out a binder with a devil bat and the word 'playbook' on it.

"We'll grind it out for a few days when we get back to Japan, but for now." He opened the binder and allowed the contents, a bunch of cards, to fall out.

"Hmm?" Yukimitsu picked one up curiously. "There's a different play written on each card."

"Really, I didn't know there were so many." Monta said as he picked up several cards, looking at them closely.

"Here's the sweep we used in the NASA game." Toganou said as he leafed through a stack he'd collected and Sena looked over his shoulder, eyebrows rasing at the sight of it.

"Why are there illustrations?"

"There isn't time to memorize all the plays, so the pictures are meant to drum them into your brain!" Hiruma replied with a wide grin and Sena sat himself on the floor next to Monta who was excitedly looking through the cards he'd picked up.

"There are so many really cool plays!"

"The illustrations make me think of children's playing cards though..." Sena said with a dry smile.

"But can you make those offensive plays without a tight end?" Doburoku questioned from where he was sitting on the bed.

"Tight end? What's that?" Monta asked, turning to Sena curiously.

"They can be on the line or catch passes, his job changes depending on the play."

"The tight end shifts depending on the play, so you can have your opponents at your mercy." Doburoku continued with a wide, proud smile. "Back when I played, that was my position."

"So if we had a tight end we could do all of these cool tricks?" Monta questioned and Doburoku nodded.

"Whether it's blocking or passing, he's got to be able to do everything!"

"That's why we had you raise him in America." Hiruma practically hissed as he cocked his gun and Doburoku shifted backwards.

"Deimon only lets one player join the team mid-year." Kurita explained.

"Really? That seems kind of unfair." Sena mused and Hiruma scoffed.

"There's only so much I can _take care of_, so right now the top candidate is the captain of the Tattooed team."

"You mean Simon?" Doburoku asked as he hid behind the curtain, perhaps feeling safer since he couldn't see the firearm he knew was being pointed at him. "But he's really crazy about _beach_ football... It would be different in we found someone better on our cross country trip."

"Oh really? Then for your sake you'd better hope we can find a really good one, you failure of a scout." Hiruma growled as he put away his gun before turning to look at the other occupants of the room. "Everyone get to bed, we'll be checking out in twenty three hours to start up again, don't forget that this isn't some vacation." He said as he took out his laptop and everyone began filing out to get to their own rooms.

"Fucking shrimp, come over here for a sec." The blonde called just before Sena was able to step out of the door and the brunette threw him a wary look before turning and walking towards him.

"Did you need something?" He asked uncertainly before becoming more concerned. "Is your knee hurting again? Did you need me to-"

"No, it's not that. Certain people have somehow gotten a hold of my current email addresses and keep on bombarding my inboxes with questions about you and it's damn annoying."

"Um... Sorry?"

"It's not your fault, idiot." Hiruma responded without malice. "It's their fault for being so damn protective of you. But that doesn't mean that you can't stop it." He turned his laptop around and placed it in Sena's hands. "Just tell them you're alive and kicking, that's all they need to know, and don't let anyone else know about this, they may mistakenly think that I did it for you and not for my own benefit."

"Don't worry Hiruma-san, I'm not going to ruin your reputation." Sena said with a grin as he logged on. "Do you suppose, to make it seem like I did this without you knowing, I should just do a really short, generic message and send it to everyone?"

"I don't care what you do as long as I don't have to search through my inboxes for the important stuff anymore."

Sena nodded, quickly beginning to type out his message.

_Hey everyone, just thought I'd tell you I'm not dead yet, I hope you're all having fun with your summer training!_

He went through his contacts and sent it to Takami, Juri, Agon and Unsui figuring it would be rude to send it to just one of the brothers.

"Alright, it's sent... I can leave now right?" He asked and Hiruma cocked an eyebrow at him.

"What, you think I'm going to keep you in here longer than necessary? Go sleep with your precious nee-chan ." The blonde said, waving one hand dismissively as the other took hold of his laptop.

"Alright, goodnight then."

Their training started up again as it normally did, although Sena had stopped falling behind the other runners as much and had almost gotten to the point where he caught up with them. But that didn't last as long as he would have liked.

A group of motorcyclists passed by just as he kicked the stone forward and it hit one of the wheels before ricocheting and hitting another bike.

"The stone! If I lose it I have to start from the beginning!" He cried as he began running after the motorcyclists, unaware that he was turning onto a new road in order to follow them.

Twenty minutes later he was finally able to re-attain his rock, only to find himself in another difficult situation.

"I lost the others... Worse yet, what kind of scary place is this?"

He was surrounded by a multitude of huge motorcyclists.

'This does not bode well...'

"_Hey boy!_" He heard someone call and he slowly turned around to see a man in a bandana approach him. "_What's up? Are you lost?_"

"No, I, uh..." Sena took a deep breath and tried to recall the things he'd learned in English. "_I was training for football along a big road with my friends from Japan, but I ended up here._"

"_Japan? Football?_" A couple approached. "_A while back we gave a ride to a Japanese girl._"

"_We left her at the San Antonio Gymnasium. She was looking for a Japanese boy who played football, could that be you?_" The woman asked.

"_Was she around my age? With blue eyes?_"

"_Yes, I believe so._"

'Maybe Mamori-neechan found out I got lost and started looking for me? But she wouldn't know I played football, unless she figured out that I wasn't on the back of the truck and thinks I was playing along the road. Besides, it has to be her. How many other girls from Japan around my age would be looking for a boy involved with football?' Sena sighed in relief.

"_Sorry to be a bother, but would you mind telling me where the Gymnasium is?_"

"_Oh we'll do more then that!_" The man with the bandana patted Sena on the back, nearly causing the brunette to fall over. "_We'll take you there!_"

Despite protesting that they really didn't need to go out of their way for him Sena found himself sitting on the back of a motorcycle while being escorted to the gymnasium.

They stopped once a large building came into view and Sena got off of the motorcycle, bowing lowly to the man in the bandana.

"_Thank you very much!_"

"_No problem._"

The couple had gotten off their motorcycles, looking around the spot they had dropped the girl off and the woman sighed dreamily.

"_I bet she came all the way from Japan to see her boyfriend._"

"_How exciting!_" The man replied before catching sight of the girl they'd dropped off at the top of a set of stairs. "_Hey, Japanese girl!_" He called. "_We found the boy you were looking for!_"

"Really?!" Sena heard a female voice call, accompanied by a strange sound, but he didn't think to hard on it as he whirled around.

"Mamori-!" He paused, eyes widening.

Not only was the girl coming down the stairs not Mamori, but she was coming down via handrail on inline skates. Sena knew of skateboarders who could pull off a painless landing after that sort of thing, but he'd never seen it done on skates.

"Careful!" He called, immediately shifting to the side so that he was right in front of her and they collided.

Sena lay sprawled on his back, dazed for several seconds before he managed to sit up and look into a pair of unfamiliar blue eyes.

"Who are you?" They asked each other in unison.


	67. Chapter 67

FASH: Alright, if all else fails I should at least have another chapter done by Sunday, and by then I'll probably be done some special one-shots that I've been working on. (Insert devious grin here.) Agon/Sena with a Beauty and the Beast theme, anyone?

""-speech

''-thoughts

"_Speaking in English_"

The girls pushed herself away and stared down at him, a distressed expression on her face. "Why'd you run into me like that?"

"Uh... Sorry." Sena said bashfully, rubbing at the back of his neck.

"You don't have to apologize." She said as she stood up. "We could have avoided it if we'd seen the other coming."

"Seen the other?" The female motorcyclist parroted excitedly from where she and the others were watching, apparently mistaking their conversation for something entirely different. "_I knew it! They're getting married! They're going on a lovey-dovey Japanese marriage date!_"

"_Kiss, kiss!_"

"Shut up already!" The girl demanded angrily before calming down and turning back to Sena. "I was looking for my big brother. Guess we were both looking for someone else." She sighed and began skating away, waving goodbye as she called over her shoulder. "If you run into a player named Taki Natsuhiko, tell him Taki Suzuna is looking for him!"

Sena waved back before turning around, hoping that maybe he'd be able to get a ride back with the motorcyclists, only to find them already leaving, apparently under the impression that their job here was done.

Sena stood there, all alone, not exactly sure how he was going to be able to get back to his friends after all his detours.

"W-wait a minute!" He began running after the girl in skates. "Taki-san!"

She immediately whirled around. "Don't call me by my last name!" She yelled as she clenched her fists. "I don't want people to think we're related."

"Really? I wonder what your brother's like..."

"And don't add the 'san' on the end of my name either, it makes me nervous. Besides, aren't we about the same age?"

"Th-then I've got to you Su-Su-Suzuna?" Sena stuttered out. 'Calling a girl by her first name only? How embarrassing.' "Well, I'm Kobayakawa Sena, it's nice to meet you."

Suzuna nodded happily before continuing on. "Did you get separated from your friends?" She asked curiously and Sena nodded.

"And I did ask those motorcyclists about who they'd given a ride to, but I still mixed you up with someone else." He admitted in embarrassment.

"Well, at least you can manage to keep up a conversation, I can only speak broken English. Since I arrived yesterday I've been making signs and acting stuff out. You can't expect help from people all the time, you know?"

"Yeah..."

Suzuna was silent for a moment before she began skating off in a different direction. "Hey, you can call your friends from inside the convention hall." She called over her shoulder as she entered a building.

"Convention hall?" Sena followed behind her, curiously looking around at the groups of huge men streaming into the building.

"This is where they're holding pro football team tryouts today. My dumb brother said he was joining the pros and took off for America. I figured he'd be here at the tryout." She explained just before someone shouted at them from across the way.

"Suzuna!"

They both turned, Sena blanching as he saw the fair haired boy who had called cross one leg over the other with an unnecessary amount of flair.

"What are you doing here, _my sister_?" He tugged at his jacket in a pose that did not belong in the current decade. "Did you come to wish me well as I'm about to make the pros?"

'Well... Now I see why she didn't want people to think they were related.' He turned to look at her, perhaps offer her some condolences, only to find her no longer vacating the spot she'd been in seconds before.

"Huh?"

"You didn't even call!" Suzuna yelled and Sena turned back to see her angrily rolling over her brother's back.

"Do you know how worried mom is?! And you took the housekeeping money!"

"Nooo, _my sister_! Were my words of affection too much for you? I'm so very sorry!" Taki managed to say through obvious pain and Sena made a mental note to never make Suzuna angry.

When Suzuna had finally calmed down enough to stop causing her brother physical pain she sat down on the bench beside him, huffing.

"I don't see why you had to come all the way over here for tryouts, idiot."

"But you don't understand Suzuna," Taki began quite calmly, apparently fully recovered from the girl's earlier violence. "I'm not the kind of guy who could sit still in Japan. After today's tryout, I'm gonna make the pros."

"Yeah, yeah, I know." Suzuna responded with a sigh. "It's fine if you want to try out. Then you'll know how good you are." She frowned lightly as she stood up and skated past Sena.

"He only started playing football in school. And he doesn't have any real game experience. So how could he make the pros?!"

Sena turned to follow after her but stopped as Taki directed a question his way.

"Are you here for the tryouts too?"

"Uh, no." Sena replied nervously and Taki laughed.

"Modesty doesn't do you any good in America! It'd be tough to make the cut without a body like mine. But even if you're a _pipsqueak_ or a _blob_, you can make up for it with _effort_!" He smiled widely and gave Sena a thumbs up. "Go for it!"

'Hmm. I don't think he mean any harm but... He's kind of insensitive isn't he?'

"_Since we're about to being, everyone who's trying out, please move into the convention hall._" Someone called out and suddenly Sena was swept up with the tide of players, steadily being herded into the convention hall despite his best efforts.

The door to the hall slammed shut and Suzuna, having found the phones, turned to tell Sena the good news, only to find herself alone.

"Huh? Don't tell me he's in the tryout. That idiot brother of mine better not have dragged him along."

Sena stood in line, hands clasped together nervously as he looked around. 'Gah! What am I doing here?' His eyes flickered to the side, stopping on Taki who was bench-pressing two hundred pounds.

"_Hey you._"

Sena snapped to attention, pointing at himself. "_Me?_"

"_Yeah, you're next, hurry it up._" The instructor commanded and Sena nervously moved forward and was just barely able to manage bench-pressing one hundred pounds.

"_Just one hundred pounds?_" "_Is he kidding, that bean sprout? What's he here for?_"

Sena scurried out of the way of the other men, frowning just a little. 'One hundred pounds isn't that bad... Wait, why am I bothering to feel offended, it's not like I actually want to try out or anything.'

"_Next, it's the time trials for the forty yard dash._"

Sena's frown disappeared abruptly. 'It's been so long since I measured my best time for the forty yard dash, maybe I can just stick around until we're done with that.' He slowly got into line behind Taki, who was able to run the forty yards in five point one seconds.

"He's pretty fast too!"

Taki, apparently perfectly capable of hearing praise no matter how far away he was, did one of his dynamic poses. "Whatever they have me do, I can do it perfectly." He explained cooly.

Sena stared with wide eyes. '... He's striking a pose in an invisible jacket!'

"_Hey bean sprout! It's your turn!_" Someone called from behind him and Sena hurriedly apologized before getting into position.

'All right, let's see if I've improved.' He pushed off from the ground, only to find that his back foot was incapable of movement and he crashed down, his right foot no longer clad in it's sock and shoe.

He tried ignore the laughter of the men who had been behind him as he put them back on. 'Is this what all tryouts are like? Competition sure makes some people awfully mean.'

"For the final test, we'll divide you into groups for a scrimmage. We've provided you with protective gear, so please suit up." The instructor said as he went through the group and assigned each person to either the A or B team.

Sena put on the uniform, the familiarity of the movements putt him at ease as he looked around. 'I'm on B, the same team a Suzuna's brother, and we're playing against..' His eyes strayed to the other side and he tensed as he saw the men who'd been giving him a hard time. "That's just my luck isn't it?"

"Sena!"

He turned to see Suzuna waving at him from the sidelines and he walked towards her.

"What are you doing?" She asked as she lead him away from the field. "The phones are over here." She held out a coin and Sena took in thankfully, picking up the phone piece and putting the coin in the slot.

He may not have had his contact list, but he'd memorized the number out of sheer disbelief that he'd been trusted with it. He just hoped Hiruma hadn't changed cell phone yet.

"What is it?" A vice snapped from the other end of the line and Sena sighed happily.

"Hiruma-san, I-"

"Where the hell have you been, fucking shrimp?!" Hiruma yelled loudly and Sena pulled the phone further away from his ear with a wince.

"I, uh, got a bit lost." He replied sheepishly and Hiruma growled lowly.

"How lost, do you at least know where the hell you are?"

"A convention hall in San Antonio, I think."

"Do you know the name of the place?" Hiruma asked distractedly and Sena heard paper shuffling in the background, probably maps.

"No, but there are tryouts for Armadillos today, if that helps."

"Give me a sec. Oh, and you're damn lucky that I've been able to keep your little disappearance a secret from the fucking manager, otherwise you don't even want to know what sort of punishment game I'd put you through for making me deal with her going on an overprotective rampage. How the hell did you get lost on a huge, straight road anyways?"

"I lost the rock as a group of motorcyclists passed by and Doburoku-sensei told me that if I lost it I'd have to do the whole Death March all over again, so I went after it and somehow ended up here."

Hiruma snorted. "Well I hope you at least got the rock back after all of this."

"Don't worry, I did." Sena responded brightly and Suzuna gave him a weird look.

"Don't sound so damn happy fucking shrimp, you're causing chaos. Anyways. What you're going to need to do is go out of the front entrance of the convention hall you're in and turn right, going along the road until you reach route 10. You'll walk down there until you see a sign and you make another right and you'll be on the proper road again, so just run like hell to catch up."

"Alright Hiruma-san, I'll see you in a while."

Sena hung up and happily turned to Suzuna. "It looks like I'll be able to get back."

"That's great!"

"And... Thanks for everything."

Suzuna pursed her lips and scratched at her chin for a moment before she snapped back to attention. "Listen, you shouldn't do this! If an artsy guy like you tried to play those wrestlers, you're dead."

"But if one person pulls out now, it would be bad for everyone on your brother's team." He reasoned with her calmly, even if the guys he'd be playing against were huge, they just didn't compare Shin's overall skills.

"Besides, it's like you said before, that it was okay for your brother to try out so that he would know how he compared to others, don't you want your brother to make the team?"

"Of course I do." Suzuna said with a sigh as she looked out at the field, her eyes locking on her brother. "He didn't get into any high schools, so he can't play football. He may be an idiot... But being in the NFL has always been his dream!"

"Suzuna-san, I mean, Suzuna..." She turned to look at him. "I'm gonna try my best." He said earnestly. "And you should too, and support your brother."

"Uh... Okay." She responded, oddly aware of the confidence that Sena appeared to be exuding. "Good luck then, don't get yourself killed."

Sena smiled widely. "Don't worry, I may not look it, but I've played against some really tough people, I'll be okay." He walked back towards the field and grabbed a helmet, choosing one with an eyeshield out of habit and putting it on confidently as Suzuna went into the stands to watch.

Taki had begun stretching his legs over his head and Sena watched on in mild fascination.

"He's really flexible."

Once again Taki was somehow able to hear Sena's comment and he turned to look at him with a wide smile.

"A-ha-ha! With this supple body, I can supplely manage anything!"

"Anything?" Sena questioned as Taki came over to get a helmet. "Taki-san, what position do you play?"

"Position?" Taki repeated aloofly as he picked up a helmet. "I don't worry about stuff like that. I just play all of 'em." He winked and gave Sena a thumbs up.

'... Wait. Does this guy...'

"Does he even know the rules?" Sena questioned Suzuna who was sitting nearby.

"I told you, he's never played in any games." She responded and Sena turned to look at the blonde who was confidently striking another pose.

"But then, isn't trying out for the pros a bit much?"

"That's what I meant by 'idiot'."

Sena slowly digested this information as he walked towards where the rest of the B team were gathering. 'So he doesn't have a set position, but he says he can do everything.' He threw a cautious look in Taki's direction. 'Maybe he could be the one we need? It seems like he'd be a good tight end, in theory at least, and pretty soon I'll be able to see if he works out in practice.'

His attention was slowly drawn away from Taki to the B team's quarterback, a boy who was freakishly similar to Ishimaru, who seemed to be in the middle of a pep talk of some sort to get the B team to band together before they went out onto the field and got into position.

'It feels like it's been a while since I played a game, even though the Aliens game was just barely over a week ago, I wonder how I'll compare against these guys?'

The ball was hiked to the quarterback, Jimmy, who for some reason felt the need to reassure Sena that they'd win by passing, so he wouldn't need to run.

'Wha? Well, that kind of ruins the fun.' Sena thought with a frown, eyes focused on the ball as it was snatched out of the air by one of his teammates before he was tackled to the ground by some of the guys from the A team. And then as the ball was passed the next time around Taki was able to catch it and take it the rest of the way to the end zone.

"Yeah! He did it!" Suzuna cheered from the sidelines and Sena smiled widely.

'He's good at catching too, he's definitely tight end material.' Sena got back into position, planning to keep a keen eye on Taki for the rest of the game, seeing as Jimmy really didn't want him to run, probably because he thought he'd get crushed by the guys on the A team.

During the next play, even though the A team had the ball in their possession one of the A team members, one of the guys who's been giving Sena a hard time, broke through the line and crashed into Jimmy harshly.

"I-I'm alright, it's okay, it's okay." Jimmy mumbled weakly as he tried to push himself up only to have the A team member stomp his foot onto his throwing arm.

"Oooh, sorry. Something must be wrong with my leg too." He said with obvious amusement as he turned away.

With Jimmy being no longer able to throw the A team began to rack up the points while the B team was being left in the dust.

'The way things are going, the whole B team's gonna be eliminated, including Suzuna's big brother!'

He wasn't going to let that happen, especially after he'd promised to try his best.

The next time the ball was in team B's possession Sena ran up behind Jimmy and took the ball from his hands before he got sacked.

"_We'll stop the run too!_" "_Die, bean sprout!_"

"Look out Sena!" Suzuna called from the stands, but the brunette's attention was riveted in front of him.

'What's going on? Are they trying to hit me? But... They seem so slow.' He held the ball closer to him and dashed through, dodging all the players on the opposing team with a strange amount of ease.

He made it into the end zone, completely unscathed.

"T-touchdown!" The referee called, shock apparent in his voice as Sena made his way back to his teammates.

'These guys may be really big, but all that muscle must make them slower.' Sena threw a cautious look over his shoulder, eyebrows furrowing. 'Shin-san must be the perfect balance of strength and speed then, a lot of the guys on the A team seem to rely more on muscle power and intimidation... Alright, let's show 'em what a bean sprout can do!'

Two more touchdowns for his team later and the tow more irritable members of the A team were beginning to steam.

"_Beat 'im down!_" "_Kill 'im!_"

It wasn't long before it came to a point where the majority of the A team was rushing after him and he was practically surrounded and out of habit he nearly put on the brakes to make a sharp cut but he was able to notice before he actually stopped and kept going.

A linebacker lunged towards him from his blind spot, but before he could get to him Taki came between them, pushing against the bigger man with surprising force.

"A-ha-ha! Here's my super sized block!"

Sena broke through, only one guy remaining in his path, the one who'd stepped on the back of his shoe and kept him from doing the forty yard dash.

"This time we're gonna crush your puny head!" He called, but Sena didn't let the intimidation get to him.

'I'm gonna try it. It'll be just like kicking the stone. First change my pace, then brake without losing any speed...' He rushed straight towards the number forty four player, moving to the side at the very last moment and easily bypassing him to get to the end zone.

He turned around with a wide smile, one eyebrow raising curiously as he saw the number forty four collapse to the ground, his teammates worriedly hovering over him as he mumbled something about a ghost.

"_Game over! B team wins!_"

"Sena, over here!" Suzuna called excitedly and Sena walked over, Taki following behind him, dramatically running a hand through his hair.

Suzuna leapt off of the side of the stands and, purely by instinct, Sena ran forward to break her fall like he did when they had first met.

At least he was wearing protective equipment this time, otherwise that would have hurt like hell.

"Why did you run into me again?!" Suzuna demanded as she picked herself up from the ground and Sena bashfully stayed in place, rubbing his hand against his neck.

"No, I... Uh, sorry..."

Suzuna stared at him hard for a minute before her eyes widened with recognition.

"I wouldn't have fallen!" She said with a huff. "I'm pretty good on these in-line skates. When I'm jumping, even if you're coming to help me, you're in the way!"

"I was?" Sena asked as he stood up. "Sorry."

Suzuna averted her eyes for a second, a small smile on her face before she turned back, suddenly looking a lot more sly as elbowed him in the ribs.

"Why are you apologizing? C'mon, why are you apologizing?!"

"Uh, because it's the right thing to do?" Sena questioned back uncertainly and Suzuna abruptly stopped elbowing him, giving him a small smile.

"Aw, that's so adorable, you're like a little kid!"

Sena wasn't quite sure if he should take that as a compliment or not.

Everyone quickly slipped out of their equipment, most of them already making their way towards the coach before he began making the announcements.

"_If everyone would please gather around, we will now announce the preliminary selection for the Armadillos tryout. Anthony Reeves. Brian Adams._"

"It sounds like they're going alphabetically." Suzuna commented and Sena nodded.

"_Jimmy Simard._"

"YEAH!"

"You made it! Jim Ishi- Jimmy!" Sena gave him a high five.

"_Nathan Smith_."

Taki took out the list of participants. "Taki Natsuhiko will be under N, so I should be up next." He tugged at the sides of his jacket, apparently preparing himself to make his most dramatic pose yet.

"_Oscar Wilder._"

Taki's grip on his jacket loosened and he stood there, dumbstruck.

"They skipped his name! He didn't make it?"

"Come on, think about it. He doesn't even know the rules." Suzuna responded dryly.

"That's impossible." Taki muttered to himself before becoming louder. "That's impossible!"

Suzuna planted her hands on her hips and frowned. "Has he lost it or what?"

"_Are you Natsuhiko Taki?_" They heard someone ask and all three of them turned to see the coach addressing him.

"_Your strength and speed aren't quite up with the pros. But, your supple body lets you catch and block easily. You have very interesting potential._" The coach gave him a small smile. "_You need three years of solid experience at a Japanese high school. A few years from now, you might make a fine athlete. The San Antonio Armadillos will be watching to see how you progress._"

"Isn't that great? He said you had potential!"

"Um... Umf. I mean, of course." In an instant Taki had completely recovered. "I have the ability, but since I'm below the age limit, he said the team wold take me when I finish high school."

"Is that what he said?!" Suzuna asked doubtfully before looking in Sena's direction. The brunette shrugged his shoulders vaguely, decided to just go along with what Taki was saying.

"But listen, to practice in high, you'll have to take the entrance exams again next year!" Suzuna told him seriously and Taki flipped his hair dramatically.

"My success rate will be 150 percent!"

'I guess now's a good a time as any...' "Um, Taki-san? My high school lets one player in during the school year. Would you play for the Deimon Devil Bats?"


	68. Chapter 68

FASH: This chapter is a couple pages shorter since I found myself pressed for time now that school's started up again. The Agon/Sena one-shot isn't quite done yet since it's becoming longer than I thought it would be, but it should be up in a couple of days as long as an avalanche of homework doesn't fall on top of me.

""-speech

''-thoughts

For several moments Taki was uncharacteristically speechless, he stared at Sena with wide eyes before managing to ask: "R... Really?" In a hushed tone that Sena could hardly make out.

"Wouldn't that be great?! He'd let you join his team!" Suzuna exclaimed and Taki seemed to snap out of his shock induced trance.

"What do you mean, Suzuna? As if it didn't matter which team I want to be on." He tugged on the lapels of his jacket.

"That's for sure." Suzuna commented dryly before excitedly grabbing onto both boy's hands. "Yaa! Let's blow this popsicle stand!"

And so they left, exiting the building just before Sena's name was called out.

As they began down the street Sena fished the stone out of his pocket and placed it on the ground in front of him.

"Uh, what's with the rock?" Suzuna asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Practice." He replied before taking off, not having to look over his shoulder to know that Suzuna and Taki were following behind him. He tried not to get too far ahead of them until they reached the open road and then he took off like he normally did, smiling a bit when he heard Taki loudly claim that he could keep up easily.

It took a solid twenty minutes of running for the Devil Bat Truck to come into view and another couple of minutes for him to reach it.

"Hey, Sena." Doburoku called just before he sped past and Sena paused, turning to look at him curiously.

"Starting tomorrow you're on the next level, you'll be kicking the stone in a zig zag."

"Zig zag?" Sena parroted curiously as Doburoku got out of the truck, evading the bodies of the exhausted linemen.

"Then if you make it to Las Vegas, you'll have perfected Devil Running. Yeah, they'll call you the Devil Bat Ghost." Doburoku pointed at him dramatically and Sena's eyes widened, although it wasn't because of the name, but because of what he was seeing over Doburoku's shoulder.

"Coach, behind you..."

"Huh?"

Doburoku turned just as Suzuna zoomed past, her body colliding with his sake jug and shattering it and the noise alerted the weary linemen who were resting up in the truck that something was up and they curiously looked over the edge.

Suzuna had managed to slow down and turned back around, skating to Sena's side as her brother came to stand on Sena's other side.

Suzuna put her hands on her hips and frowned sternly at Doburoku, who was staring at the broken pieces of his jug with immeasurable sadness. "Don't turn around so suddenly, that could have turned out a lot worse if I didn't have my gloves on!" She clucked her tongue, as if she were lecturing a young child.

Doburoku finally picked his gaze up off of the ground and frowned. "Now look here kid-"

"Don't call me a kid!" Suzuna shouted back and Doburoku's mouth snapped shut.

"A-ha-ha, you'll have to excuse Suzuna, she's too overrun with emotions after seeing me that she just doesn't know what to do." Taki said cooly just as Mamori, curious about the commotion, stepped out of the truck.

"Sena..." She began slowly, eyes flickering from him to the unfamiliar faces of the two by his side. "Who are they?"

Sena rubbed the back of his neck and laughed nervously, acutely aware that Mamori wasn't the only one staring at him curiously.

"Well, we were passing by and I saw them and, uh..." He trailed off, knowing he couldn't say anything about getting lost since Mamori would demand to know when he hadn't been in the back of the truck.

Suzuna, apparently realizing that Sena was trying to cover his tracks, quickly picked up where he left off. "My idiot brother got us stranded out here and Sena tried to help us out to no avail-"

"Suzuna, what are you talking abo-" Suzuna quickly sprung to the side and elbowed her brother harshly in the ribs, the hard plastic of her elbow pads probably causing the strike to hurt more than it normally would.

But at least it was effective.

"While he was helping us out we started talking and discovered that my brother is just what you guys need!" She shoved Taki forward with a wide grin. "He can be your... Um... What was it called again?"

"Tight end." Sena filled in and Suzuna nodded vigorously.

"Yeah, that's it. Despite being an idiot, I'm sure my brother won't let you down!"

Taki ignored the insult and preened at the praise, as was his usual fashion and quickly lifted one leg high into the air, twirling on the other. "A-ha-ha! With this supple body of mine I can manage any task!"

Sena looked around curiously to see that most of his teammates were giving Taki an incredulous looks, the story about him getting himself and his sister stranded out in the middle of nowhere didn't seem as far fetched when he was acting the way he normally did and while it may have seemed like it was a little too perfect that Taki was tight end material, the only one he had to convince of his story was Mamori.

He turned to look at her and saw that she was slowly approaching, a kind smile brightening her features.

"I'm Anezaki Mamori, and you are?" She asked once she had come to a stop in front of Suzuna and the younger girl looked up at her, eyes wide.

"Taki Suzuna." She replied and Mamori's smile widened.

"It's nice to meet you Suzuna, I assume you'll be joining us on our little training expedition as well?" She asked and Suzuna nodded.

"Well, that is, if you'll let me..."

"Of course, we can't leave you all alone out here." Mamori clasped Suzuna's shoulders and sent Sena a strange smile from over the other girls's head before leading her to the front of the truck.

Sena blinked in confusion, not entire sure if he wanted to know what that smile had been about.

Taki, apparently aware that no one had asked him for his name as of yet, loudly proclaimed it by himself, much to the annoyance of Kuroki who moodily told him to shut up.

"Alright, it looks like you're all feeling most rested up, so get back to pushing the truck." Doburoku instructed and with a groan and several complaints the linemen slipped off the back of the truck, taking up their training positions once more.

Doburoku glanced at Sena from the corner of his eye. "You'll have to run this idea of your by Hiruma you know, and I'm not sure he's going to want someone like that on his team."

"Taki-san will be fine." Sena said confidently. "I've seen him play, he'd be a good tight end and if Hiruma-san doesn't accept him... Well... I'll make him, somehow."

Doburoku snorted. "Good luck with that." Was all he said before climbing onto the back of the truck and Sena was about to take off once more when Mamori peeked her head out of the window.

"Sena, you've been out a lot today, why don't you come inside with me and Suzuna? You can bring Taki-kun in too, and then we'll sort out the tight end thing once we meet up with Hiruma-kun and the others later today." She beckoned him with a wave of her hand and Sena came forward, looking over his should to see what Taki was doing.

The blonde seemed to be telling the linemen about his prowess and the like.

'I don't think I'll be able to drag him away from that.'

Sena picked his stone off of the ground, tucking it into the safety of his pocket once again before entering the passengers side of the truck.

Mamori had the wheel in a death-grip, seeming to be under the impression that if she held it any looser the wheels would turn and they'd all even up falling from a nonexistent roadside cliff. She appeared to be completely relaxed otherwise though, and had been talking to Suzuna in hushed whispers before Sena opened the door, trailing off with a hushed giggle once he was seated.

'Do I even want to know what they were talking about? Probably not.'

Mamori hummed under her breath as her attention focused back on the road and Suzuna leant in from where she was seated between them to whisper in Sena's ear.

"So Mamo-nee is the cool, domestic type, huh?"

"Uh, I guess."

Suzuna sighed and clasped her hands together. "Domestic types are so awesome, they've just got this aura around them that makes you feel like your part of the family."

"What are you two talking about?" Mamori queried, turning her head to look at them, smiling the same sort of smile that she'd given to Sena minutes before. "You sure get along well. I don't think Sena's ever had any female friends in his grade before."

Sena blushed in mild embarrassment and Suzuna raised her eyebrows curiously.

"Really? I guess he does seem like an introvert." Suzuna mused and Sena crossed his arms in mock agitation.

"What about you Suzuna? You sure seem like an outgoing girl." Mamori said as he eyes once again became glued to the road.

"Yeah, I suppose I've got lots male and female friends." Suzuna replied, swinging her legs back and forth.

Sena began tuning out the conversation, looking out the window at the slowly passing scenery. Even once in a while he'd catch Mamori's reflection turning to look at him, but he tried not to pay too much attention to it.

He couldn't help but feel relived when they finally made it to the site Hiruma and the others had stopped at. He leapt out of the passenger seat and moved towards them with a wide smile.

"Sena, where the heck did you run off to? Why did you come in with those guys?" Monta asked and Hiruma snorted.

"The fucking shrimp got lost." He answered for him and Sena's smile shrunk a bit.

"It's wasn't my fault, I had to go after the stone." He protested and Hiruma rolled his eyes before focusing on something beyond the brunette's shoulder.

"What's with the fresh faces over there, did you pick up some strays while in the big city?"

"I would hardly call them 'strays'." Sena muttered before brightening up. "I met Taki-san at the tryouts, I thought he'd be a good tight end so I brought him along."

"Oh really?" Hiruma walked past him in an uncaring fashion and Sena whirled around to follow him, the older boy's aloof attitude not bothering him in the slightest.

"So, were you worried when I was gone Hiruma-san?" He asked conversationally as he came up beside him, not afraid as he probably should have been when the blonde glared at him out of the corner of his eye.

"Why would I? I know you can take care of yourself. And stop following me." He ordered and Sena paused, deciding that maybe it would be best the leave the blonde alone, for now.

Mamori had begun taking out the various supplies she would need to make supper, Suzuna occasionally lending a helping hand and, upon seeing Sena pass by Mamori was somehow able to coerce him into helping out as well, curiously making sure that he stood beside Suzuna.

He frowned a bit, not quite understanding why his elder sister figure seemed set on keeping the two of them together, before a strange sort of comprehension set in.

Sena almost dropped the knife he'd been using to cut up vegetables and his breath caught in his throat.

'She isn't trying to set me up with Suzuna is she?'

He quickly pulled himself together and began chopping up the vegetables once again, although his eyes nervously flickered to the girl beside him from time to time as he tried to make sense of everything.

'Mamori-neechan is afraid that certain people here like me more than they should, what better way to thwart any unwelcome advances than start up a relationship.' Sena pursed his lips. 'I suppose it does sound like something Mamori-neechan would think up, but I only just met Suzuna today, why would she think a plan like that would work out? Maybe she's just acting this way because I've only had her and Julie-neechan as close female friends and she wants me to have a more... Balanced variety of friends?'

He quickly shot Mamori a questioning look from where he was standing, in all the time he'd known her, which was basically his entire life, he'd never thought of her as a matchmaking type.

'So it must just be my imagination.' He sighed in relief.

Later on after the food had been prepared and handed out everyone had settled themselves in a circle around a fire Hiruma had lit and Taki had decided that now was the perfect time to let everyone know what he had been up to.

Hiruma chuckled darkly once Taki finished his, slightly altered, tale of what had happened.

"A rookie going out for the pros? Well, you had a zero percent chance of making the team!"

"No, your chance is only zero if you don't try at all." Kurita said comfortingly, but Taki was unaffected by Hiruma's comment and flashed everyone a grin.

"Well, I see my success rate as 150 percent."

Suzuna sighed. "Please excuse him." She said as she brought another spoonful to her mouth.

Hiruma chuckled some more and pointed his poon in Taki's direction. "That's stupid! You're an idiot!"

Monta frowned a bit, narrowing his eyes at Taki until he seemed to be overcome by a sudden epiphany.

"Ah! Now I remember!" He cried, pointing in Taki's direction with a shaking finger and Sena turned to look at his friend curiously.

"At Deimon's entrance exam, right after I left the test hall he came up to me saying he had found something of mine! It was a book called English even a monkey can understand!" Monta seethed at the memory, looking for all the world like he was going to bust a gasket.

"He probably didn't mean to offend you." Sena said. "He just doesn't have much-" Sena paused his train of thought, slowly turning to look at Taki.

"But if you were at the entrance exams with Monta, then does that mean you're still a first year?"

"He is." Suzuna replied for him and Sena's eyebrows furrowed together.

"But you're a first year too."

"He was born in April and I was born in March, if he'd been born a month earlier he could have gone to school a year before me, but as it is he was too young to start when most kids around his age were going." She explained, waving her spoon in the air and Sena nodded in understanding before glancing at Hiruma.

"So Hiruma-san, do you think we could have Taki-san play for us as a tight end?"

"No way." The blonde responded and Sena jerked around to face him fully.

"Why?"

"There's only room for one person, so he's gotta be a prize." Hiruma explained as he unwrapped a piece of sugar-free gum. "How could I give it to this fucking chin-fuzz rookie?"

Suzuna slumped over and Sena opened his mouth to protest, but stopped as Hiruma continued.

"But there's still a month left on the cross country trip." He stood up, back facing everyone as he began walking away. "If he can make it to the end of our Death March, then I might consider him."

"A-ha-ha, no problem!" Taki said with his usual optimism. "I can take care of it before breakfast."

Sena quickly finished up his own meal, trying not to look too suspicious as he followed the path Hiruma had taken, excusing himself from the ring of people with a yawn and a claim of being dead tired.

He snuck around to the other side of the truck to see that Hiruma was on his laptop, much like the last time Sena had followed him after the training and he crept forward, feeling oddly proud that he had yet to make any noise that would alert the blonde to his presence.

"If you're trying to sneak up on me you're wasting your time." He said, not even bothering to glance in Sena's direction and the brunette abruptly paused his sneaking, walking normally the rest of the way.

"And if you think that there are any other injuries you need to tend to, you're wasting your time even more."

"I'm not here for that, I just want to make sure you'll keep your eye on Taki-san, he may be a bit strange, but I think he'd be a great addition to the team. And you know, I was right with Monta, who'd never even played football before."

Hiruma flicked his hand dismissively. "I'll keep my eye on him if he manages to make it through the first week without wanting to turn back, so stop pestering me, I've got work to do."

"Your inbox isn't receiving a barrage of emails anymore?"

"No, but since you sent the email under your own account, I imagine yours is. Oh well. Absence makes the heart grow fonder."

Sena furrowed his eyebrows at the saying but decided not to comment on it and instead turned back around, crawling onto the back of the truck before anyone could come around and wonder where he'd gone off to.

'I just hope Taki-san doesn't wear himself out so much showing off that he ends up getting really exhausted.'

Only time would tell if the blonde had what it takes to be a member of the Devil Bats, and Sena would be crossing his fingers for him.


	69. Chapter 69

FASH: Alright, we're almost going back to Japan, just another couple of chapters to go and then Sena can get smothered by all of his dear elder sibling figures once he reaches the airport .

""-speech

''-thoughts

Taki, although he'd started to lag behind after the first several hours of training, was somehow able to use his sheer force of will to not only catch up with the others, but have Suzuna being pulled behind him on a rope as he caught up.

"Look Sena! This is fun, it's like water skiing!" She called as they passed them and Taki turned around to wave at them.

"It's too easy for me without a handicap." He claimed before turning back and running even harder despite his obvious exhaustion.

Hiruma chuckled from his position behind everyone. "He's so stupid, he's gonna collapse." He commented before cocking his gun. "So why doesn't everyone follow his example?"

They didn't have to be told twice, although Monta seemed to be taking it way too seriously. Over the next couple of days every time Taki decided to pull a crazy stunt during training Monta would do likewise which would make Taki feel like showing off even more and thus the cycle continued and made them the most exhausted of everyone after each training period.

It would make them seem almost valiant, trying as hard as they were, if they weren't just doing it to try and show the other up.

The days were beginning to pass by in a blur to Sena, only a couple days stood out in his memory to assure him that time was, in fact, still moving and he wasn't stuck in some sort of time warp. Like the day the linemen had been able to push the truck up a small hill, the day they'd run out of gas and Mamori and Suzuna had been the ones to get some one to 'give' them some, the day where they'd had a tornado coming their way and Hiruma had forced them to outrun it.

'But it still feels like this is going on forever, how many more days do we have left?' Sena slowed to a stop with everyone else as they finally reached their designated site for the night, going down on one knee to gently run his fingers over his aching joint.

'My blisters may hurt, but it's my knees that are killing me, all that zig zagging is really starting to wear me down.'

And he wasn't the only one who seemed about ready to drop dead, everyone had pretty much collapsed to the ground, not unlike Monta and Taki after a particularly competitive day.

"Don't count your chickens before they hatch." Doburoku commented sagely as he stepped around various body parts. "The real hell starts here. Your body will be whining: why am I having such painful thoughts? Haven't I done enough already?" He glanced down and frowned. "When I was in college, I did a 2,000 km Death March. On the last bloody 500 km, everyone collapsed."

Several people, interest piqued, sat up to get a better look at Doburoku while he was speaking.

"These are photos from back then." Hiruma interrupted, turning his laptop around and immediately the people who had the leftover energy to began swarming around him to get a good look at his laptop's screen.

"Where'd you get those?" Doburoku asked with a sweat-drop and Hiruma just cackled, clearly he had his ways.

"Keh, he was even an alky in his younger years." Hiruma commented dryly and Sena eyes slowly moved to the only person in the picture who was holding beer bottle.

"You mean this guy on the right?" Sena pointed him out.

"Yep, that's me."

"You look so young!" Sena and Monta chimed together, their eyes quickly moving bac and forth from the photo to the real thing.

"Of course he does." Hiruma snorted as Mamori leaned over Sena's shoulder to get a closer look.

"That guy on the left... Haven't we seen him somewhere before?"

"That's Shogun." Hiruma replied simple and Kurita whirled around to look at him. "What? That's Oujou's coach?! Doburoku-sensei knew him?"

Doburoku smirked. "On Sengoku University's football team the two of us were known as 'The Swords of Japan.' We'd taken the entire team out on the Death March, he lead the backs, and I worked with the linemen. In the end we were the only ones determined to keep going. A foolish mistake on my part." He gestured to his injured leg before crossing his arms.

"I wonder how many of you will be able to make it to the end? That is, if any of you make it." He said before turning away.

Monta huffed indignantly and crossed his arms. "We'll show him who can make it, right Sena?!"

"Mm-hm." Sena nodded tiredly and Mamori worriedly ran a hand though his hair.

"I don't see why you had to run today, Hiruma-kun didn't make you do anything before now." She glared at the spot the blonde had vacated himself from moments prior.

"No, it's okay Mamori-neechan. Sitting in the back of the truck makes me restless, I'm used to moving around a bit more. Hiruma-san must have heard me complaining about it to Monta and decided that I might as well run with everyone else so that I'd stop my complaining." He explained.

"But still, if you're feeling so restless, why don't you have Suzuna stay behind with us so that you can walk by the truck and talk to her?"

Sena gapped at the question momentarily. "B-because... Uh..."

"Sena, you've got to start getting used talking to girls your age. Whatever will you do when you find a girl you like but find out that your too shy to approach her?"

Sena was faintly aware that several people snickered at the question but he tried to ignore their mirth at his embarrassment. "Well, why does the boy have to make the first move? Even if I did like someone, I wouldn't approach them about it unless I already knew they liked me back, otherwise it would just be embarrassing."

Mamori smiled and wrapped an arm around his shoulder, slowly leading him away from his deviously amused teammates.

"Well, it's because that's the way it's always been done. Girls are a bit more shy around boys, you know?"

"Suzuna's not very shy, she's more exuberant than anything else around everyone."

Mamori's smile widened and for some reason and Sena curiously asked why.

"You know, Suzuna is the only girl that you've ever addressed without any honorific."

"That's because she told me not to!" Sena objected but Mamori just 'hmm'ed, apparently not believing him.

"In any case, I've got to go get a start on supper. Suzuna's going to help me, do you feel up to it too?"

"No, not really." Sena said, not entirely lying. He had the strange feeling that if he tried handling any kitchen utensils right now he'd just end up stabbing himself in the eye or some equally unpleasant place.

"Alright, you go rest up then. I'll come get you when the food's ready." And with that Mamori left and Sena sat down, leaning against one of the rear tires of the truck and throwing a weary arm over his eyes.

"_Whatever_ will _you do _when you find a _girl you like _but are _too shy _to approach her?"

Sena groaned and weakly kicked out in the general direction of the voice, removing his arm from his face when he only receive a deep chuckle for his efforts.

Juumonji, as exhausted as he obviously was, was practically beaming down at him as if Mamori's voiced concern was the funniest thing he'd heard in a while. Which it probably was, Doburoku didn't seem the type to crack jokes to make the training go by faster.

"Oh shush." Was all Sena bothered to say before moving his arm to cover his eyes once again.

"Hey, what are you two doing over here? Trying to get away from that Taki guy?" Monta asked as he stumbled over, whispering the second question as if saying his name out loud would make the blonde appear out of thin air.

"Nah, you're the only one who'd got a real problem with him, monkey." Juumonji said casually and Sena could hear Monta begin to seethe before the other boy had even opened his mouth to retort.

"Who are you calling a monkey?!"

"Who do you think?" Was all Juumonji said before Sena felt the boy settle beside him, Monta imminently doing the same on Sena's other side.

'Have I just inadvertently been turned into the peacekeeper of this situation?'

"So, you _shy boy_, how many girls do you talk to?" Juumonji asked mockingly and Sena resisted the urge to hit him, even though with him being this close there was no way the blonde would be able to dodge the blow.

"Suzuna, Mamori-neechan, Julie-neechan and Maruko-neechan. And the only reason I know Julie-neechan is because of my mother's obsessive compulsive need for me to have friends back when I was still bullied. Before then I only ever talked to Mamori-neechan because all the girls in my class thought they'd get bullied if they spoke to me."

"Really? That's harsh." Monta mumbled beside him. "And you're mom's still kind of like that right? With her whole wanting to meet everyone thing?"

Sena nodded. "But at least she isn't setting me up on play dates anymore, that would just be embarrassing now that I'm in high school."

Someone, he was guessing Juumonji by the size of the hand, grabbed onto his arm and brought it away from his face.

"What's with this play date thing anyways? Didn't you say something about it before and said you'd explain it to us sometime?"

Sena couldn't really recall, but he nodded anyways.

"Well, we've got time and nothing else to do."

"It's not very interesting."

"Humor us then."

Sena took a deep breath, shoulders slumping a little as he caved in and began. "Well, several years ago, when Mamori-neechan had left for a different middle school..."

He tried to explain it as quickly as possible, skipping over certain parts, like when he'd been cornered by his bullies only to be rescued by none other than Agon who proceeded to make sure he was okay after causing his bullies enough bodily harm to keep them from ever bothering him again, during the rest of his middle school days at least.

By the end of it Monta was nodding along sagely.

"So that why you know so many people. I guess that makes it harder to spy on those teams then."

Sena sputtered indignantly. "I'd never spy on their teams! It would be like I was violating their trust."

Beside him Juumonji grinned. "But you'd go spy on other teams, dressed as a girl to boot."

"Hey, that wasn't my idea!" Sena protested just as Mamori came up to them, her lips pursing in confusion.

"What wasn't your idea Sena?" She asked, eyes flickering from Juumonji to Monta before going back to Juumonji.

"Oh, nothing." Sena replied, briefly wondering why Mamori was quite obviously looking at Juumonji when normally she put all of her focus on the person she was talking to.

Mamori frowned a bit at the answer, apparently expecting something a little more informative, but she let it slide. "The foods ready, are you guys up to going to get it yourself or did you want me to bring it to you?"

Monta sprung up from his spot beside Sena, apparently set on showing Mamori that the training they were going through was no big deal for him. "Don't worry Mamori-san, we can get it ourselves, right guys?"

"Uh..." Sena shifted a little, not really feeling like moving now that he'd settled down.

"I'll get Suzuna to bring yours over, how about that?" Mamori asked sweetly, tilting her head to the side as she smiled.

"Yeah, that sounds good." Sena responded slowly, hoping that he wasn't giving off the wrong impression.

"And what about you Juumonji-kun? Are you staying over here as well?"

Juumonji nodded, a smirk playing upon his lips. "Yeah, I think I'll just stay over here. Pushing that truck for thirty days is really starting to wear me out."

Mamori nodded in understand before she and Monta moved towards the place she had set up her portable kitchen.

"It's been thirty days? It feels like we've been doing the Death March for a lot longer, I guess it's because of our training schedule..."

"Yeah, but you know once we finally do finish it's going to seem like it took no time at all. Then you'll get all worried that you didn't train hard enough." Juumonji commented dryly and Sena rose an eyebrow at him.

"I really don't think I'll be that worried about it, I'm trying my hardest, that's all that matters."

They stayed silent until Suzuna skated over with two plates in hand and one gingerly balanced on her head. After giving Juumonji and Sena their plates she removed hers from it's awkwardly balanced position and took up the space the Monta had left, excitedly talking about how well her brother was keeping up with everyone.

Sena picked at his food for the first several minutes, more tired then hungry, before drifting off to the constant hum of Suzuna's voice.

The next time they would start up their training Doburoku's words about the true hell only just beginning would ring true.

Everyone tried to deal with this new form of exhaustion in their own way, but none of them had ever even dreamt about training this hard before, and some of them weren't even used to training very much in the first place.

Juumonji, Kuroki and Toganou were having a tough time, having never really trained for any sports before they'd been forced into the football club. But they were still fairly fit and there was someone who was having way more trouble then them.

Yukimitsu had begun trailing behind as of late despite his best efforts. All this training must have been an unwelcome shock to his body, anything he'd done before the Death March could hardly be considered a warm up for it.

Sena tried to keep an eye on the older boy, not wanting anyone to give in to the rest their bodies craved for, not when they were just over a week away from the end.

Day thirty three began with rain pitter-pattering against the road, the sound of it just loud enough to wake everyone up and frown darkly at the weather. The air was thick with humidity as they began and the rain quickly soaked through everyone's clothes and into their shoes, making their socks squelch with every step they took. The sheer darkness of the clouds above them was enough to put a damper on anyone's mood and Sena really wouldn't be surprised if someone ended up slipping on the now slick pavement.

He'd been running, eyes straining to see his rock through the torrents of rain falling ahead of him when he heard a sound that made him turn around.

Yukimitsu had stumbled to the ground.

"Yuki-san!" He called, Monta quickly turning and asking if the older boy was okay as they began running back for him.

"Leave him!" Hiruma barked harshly. "Didn't I tell you at the start?! Whoever collapses gets left behind! Forget the loser or we won't make it to Las Vegas in time for the fall season!"

"But Hiruma-san-" Sena was interrupted as a volley of bullets were shot at his feet.

"Just forget it Sena. You can't handle the burden of someone else's weight right now. Now start running!" He ordered and the two younger boys were quick to comply, although doing so left Sena with a sick feeling in his stomach.

'This is just wrong! And it's probably a violation of human rights or something! Even if Hiruma-san wants me too, I just can't go along with it!' He swiftly turned back around, ignoring Hiruma's angry hissing of his name and his demand for Sena to _come back right now or else_. He'd deal with the consequences of his actions later, right now he had a teammate who needed his help.

Going against Hiruma's wishes had been the hard part, or at least that's what he told himself, so when he slung Yukimitsu's arms over his shoulders and heaved him off of the ground to continue his zig-zagging he was certain that if he just tried to pretend that he wasn't carrying another person he'd be fine. Yukimitsu wasn't heavy by any means, he was fairly tall, compared to Sena at least, but he was lanky and lightweight, easier to carry than someone with a lot of muscle like Juumonji.

His knees were going to be killing him even more than usual because of them, but a friend in need was a friend indeed.

'Alright legs, don't you dare give out on me now.' He ordered as he increased his pace, intent on reaching the others before Hiruma had too long to think up the perfect punishment for his insubordination.


	70. Chapter 70

FASH: Alright, I've done some more random fanart, while it's not directly linked to Play Date, if you don't mind my sucky first attempts at photoshop any Akaba/Sena or Shin/Sena fans might like to check 'em out.

""-speech

''-thoughts

Sena was only vaguely aware that he'd passed by the Taki siblings as he strained to keep his eyes focused on the rock. He wasn't sure how long he'd been carrying Yukimitsu, but his knees were beginning to feel as though they would give out at any moment.

Yukimitsu shifted and began to speak so softly that Sena had to strain to hear him over the sound of the rain.

"Thank you. I'll be fine now Sena." He slowly moved so that he was standing on his own two, wobbly legs before turning and running back the way they had come.

"Hey! Yuki-san! That's the wrong way!" Sena cried as he began running after him.

"I want to re-run it from where I fell down. You go ahead and catch up with the others."

Sena stopped following after him and watched as the older boy slowly faded from his view, fighting the urge to go after him and make sure he was alright.

'Yuki-san will be fine, he's got a lot of drive and determination, he'll be fine.'

He finally managed to turn away and start running, resisting the need to constantly look over his shoulder to see if Yukimitsu had caught up.

That night Yukimitsu made it to camp not too far ahead of the linemen, and promptly collapsed.

Everyone swirled around him as Mamori, having seen the fall from her place in the truck, rushed out to check and see if he was okay. Sena was just glad that he'd been able to make it as far as he had before falling to the ground again.

When Mamori announced that he was fine, just exhausted, everyone heaved a collective sigh of relief.

Except for Sena, who suddenly found himself incapable of doing anything other than breathe through his nose.

He'd been expertly avoiding the blonde ever since they made it to their resting place for the night, but leave it to Hiruma to sneak up on him when he's distracted.

Hiruma, with one hand clasped over Sena's mouth and the other flung around the brunette's shoulders, began leading him backwards. And with everyone's attention glued on Yukimitsu and the incoming linemen, no one noticed as the pair slipped into the night.

'Well, at least the rain's lightening up.' Sena thought in a failed attempt to be optimistic, he'd been fairly certain that Hiruma would do something to reprimand him for not following his orders, but he hadn't thought it would be so bad that they'd have to be alone for him to be punished.

'I'm taking being doomed to a whole new level with this, aren't I?'

"You're such a fucking idiot." Hiruma hissed in his ear before turning Sena around to face him. "I told you that you wouldn't be able to handle it, and what do you go and do? You do what I just told you not to."

Hiruma crouched down so that they were eye to eye and he tugged at the bottom hem of Sena's shorts. "You're already straining your knees enough as it is, moron."

Sena stood completely still, slowly forcing his mind to process that Hiruma seemed to be more worried about him than angry at him.

"If you ever go against my orders and do something stupid like that again, you're dead meat." The blonde finished in a decisively chilling way, Sena just nodded to show he understood, unsure if he'd be able to speak without having his voice crack.

Hiruma's glare weakened a fraction, although since his stare had been so intense it hardly made a difference. "Have you lost your voice, or have you just been rendered speechless?"

"S-second one." Sena somehow managed to get out and Hiruma smirked, amused.

"Well, I hope your silent condition doesn't get the fucking manager to go into a mad frenzy of accusations when you get back to everyone." Hiruma stood up straight and spun Sena around, giving him a hard push on the back. "You go first, I've got some things I need to check over, alone."

Sena nodded mutely before walking away, not being able to help but think that the confrontation had gone a lot better than he thought it would have. He hadn't even been shot at! Maybe Monta was on to something when he said that he was Hiruma's favorite back at the Ben Ranch.

'Then again, there's no doubt in my mind that if I ever do disobey his orders again he'll definitely keep his promise of making me dead meat.'

Sena slipped back into the crowd of Devil Bats smoothly, feeling rather proud of his sneaking ability when no one turned around to ask him where he had been.

That feeling was shattered several moments later when, in some sort of co-ordinated move, Suzuna, Monta and Juumonji all leaned in to ask him where he'd gone.

Suzuna sounded perkier that usual, Monta sounded suspicious and Juumonji sounded amused.

Sena frowned. "Where do you think I was?" He asked defensively.

"Well, since there's only one other member of the team missing, it's easy to assume that you were off with him." Juumonji said dryly and Suzuna nodded happily.

"Hiruma-san wasn't going over any secret training methods with you was he? Playing favorites is unfair to the max!" Monta said as he crossed his arms.

"Oh no, it was nothing like that! Hiruma-san was just angry that I went against his orders and went back for Yuki-san."

"Oh. Good." Was all Monta had to say while Suzuna visibly drooped; apparently the answer hadn't been to her liking.

Sena opened his mouth to ask her what exactly had been going through her mind, but he quickly closed it when he saw Mamori coming their way.

"So this is where you've been, I was starting to wonder where you'd wandered off to." Mamori said with a smile. "Did you want to come into the truck now so that you can change out of those sopping wet clothes? If you stay in them much longer you'll catch a cold."

"Uh, sure, that sounds good." Sena said as he moved around the trio blocking his path to go walk beside Mamori as they made their way to the truck. Blankets had been strewn over the windows to give everyone a little more privacy as they changed, but it didn't really feel as private as it should have when, just as he had begun to strip off his wet clothes, Mamori decided to strike up a conversation.

"Sena, you do like Suzuna as a friend right? I'm not completely out of whack when I say that, right?" She asked lowly.

"Of course I like her as a friend." Sena replied simply as he began to pull of his wet socks.

"But you don't like her any more than a friend, do you?"

Sena paused, the tone of Mamori's voice sounded oddly desolate when she said that, as though the thought made her incredibly depressed.

"No, she's just a friend to me. Why are you so concerned about this anyways? You never worried about how well I got along with girls and stuff like that before." Sena started changing into his dry nightwear.

"Well, you know that I only do what I think is best for you, right? And I think that if you got a girlfriend, maybe you'd gain a little more confidence. I know you're doing a lot better now, but sometimes I just can't help but still think of you as the boy I always protected from bullies in elementary school."

Sena stepped out of the truck, casting several glances around to make sure that no one, namely Hiruma, was around to listen in on this conversation.

"I know Mamori-neechan, but I just don't like any girls that way."

Mamori blinked very slowly before leaning forward and whispering. "Then… Does that mean that they are… Boys you like that way?"

"What? No, I don't like anyone that way."

Mamori nodded her head in apparent understanding. "I guess it makes sense, up until just a while ago all the girls you talked to were seen as older sister figures, and all the guys were either like bullies or older brother figures."

"Huh? Well I guess that makes sense… Does this mean you'll stop trying to subtly pair me and Suzuna together now?"

Mamori blushed a little and nodded. "Yeah, sorry about that. But Sena, I just want you to know that if you ever to find someone you like, no matter who they are, you can tell me, okay?"

"Alright…" Sena began uncertainly, wondering if she meant anything specific by 'no matter who they are.' "If I ever get a crush, you can be the first one to know."

Unless of course, someone noticed before he even knew it himself, but they didn't count.

"Thanks Sena." Mamori said gratefully. "I'd better start making supper, don't wander off to far, it'll be ready soon."

Sena nodded and watched Mamori walk off with a perplexed expression.

'Suzuna seemed excited because I was alone with Hiruma-san, and she was definitely less excited when she found out Hiruma-san was just giving me a firm talking to. Meanwhile Mamori-neechan thinks that if I don't like girls, I might like boys and says I can tell her who my crush is _no matter who they are._' Sena's eyes widened a fraction. 'Do they think I'm gay?'

Sena began pacing, rubbing at his chin as he weighted the options. 'Well, I suppose they could come to that conclusion, maybe… But just because I lack female friends and don't have crushes on any girls doesn't mean I like boys. Hmm…'

"Hey Sena, what's got you all confused over here?" Monta asked as he approached and Sena turned to him.

'Mamori-neechan and Suzuna are girls, maybe girls and guys think differently about this sort of thing!'

"Monta, do I come across as gay to you?"

Monta's eyes bulged and his mouth dropped open.

Sena's eyebrows furrowed at the reaction. 'Maybe that was too sudden?'

"What the-! Where did that come from?" Monta asked after regaining his capabilities of speech and Sena shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly.

"I've just been wondering is all."

"Oh… Okay…" Monta slowly replied before clearing his throat. "Well, if you ask me you seem pretty asexual for the most part. I mean, the thing that takes up most of your time is football, and it's probably what you think about the most, it's kind of hard to even imagine you in any sort of relationship since football dominates your life so much..." He trailed off, running a hand through his hair distractedly. "On the other hand…"

"On the other hand?"

"Well, there are your cross-dressing episodes, and I know Hiruma-san put you up to it, but I'm sure that if you put up a bit more of a fight you wouldn't have had to go through with it. And you do have that slight obsession with Shin-san, and you and I both know that it's because of respect and the need to prove yourself and all that. But if I didn't know that you played football and heard you praising Shin-san the way you do, yeah, that might come across as a little gay."

Sena blinked slowly. 'Wow, this is another one of those situations where Monta is incredibly intellectual.'

"But that's just my opinion, if you really wanna know it would be better if you asked some strangers, you know, since they don't know you at all. But that would be really awkward, huh?"

"Yeah, a little too awkward."

Monta shrugged his shoulders. "Well, all I can really say in closing is, it's kind of hard to believe that a guy who's able to make people believe he's a girl as easily as you did with those people from, uh… Whatever team they were from, something that started with 'D'."

"The Dinosaurs." Sena supplied and Monta nodded vigorously.

"Yeah, that's it! Anyways, it's hard to believe that you could make them think you were a girl so easily without being a little, uh, I don't know where I'm going with this anymore."

"That's okay, I think I get the gist of it. Thanks Monta."

"No problem man, listen, I'm gonna go over and see if Mamori-san needs any help, okay?" Monta said before turned and walking away, leaving Sena alone to brood some more.

'Well, it's not like what people think matters anyways, and I never have to worry about Hiruma-san making me cross-dress again. So I really shouldn't care about this stuff.' He told himself, trying to ignore the little voice in the back of his mind, whispering that it was actually quite important.

That night as the others began falling asleep Sena sorted through his wet clothing and dug his hand into his short's pocket. 'I wonder if Shin-san's training is anything like this, probably not, I bet he-' Sena abruptly stopped as he gripped his stone.

'Why does it seem smaller for some reason?' He slowly pulled it out, dreading the answer.

"The stone… Broke into pieces." 'I must not have noticed it because I was too busy trying to keep away from Hiruma-san when I picked it up and shoved it into my pocket, and I wouldn't have seen it break apart because of the rain.' Sena inwardly cursed before jumping off the back of the truck.

"Huh, where're you going Sena?" Monta asked sleepily, Taki echoing the question with more energy.

"I've got to go look for the other piece!" Sena replied simply before dashing off, looking over his shoulder in surprise when he heard the quick shuffling of fabric behind him.

"A-ha-ha! I'm running back with you, and I'll need a handicap!" Taki said while giving him a thumbs up.

"Aw… I can do it too!" Monta exclaimed as he followed after them.

"Guys, you really don't need to come back with me."

"Nonsense! If you can do this so can I! Besides, three sets of eyes are better than one, yes?" Taki said, seemingly with a bountiful amount of energy as Monta nodded vigorously beside him.

"Well, I suppose if you guys insist…"

They were able to find the other half of the stone fairly quickly; thankfully it hadn't been broken to far away from where Hiruma had said they would stop for the night.

Sena murmured a quick word of thanks to the two boys as they all settled back down into their makeshift beds and swiftly fell asleep.

The next day of training went by painfully slow for Sena, who was instructed by Doburoku to kick both of the stones as he ran. He'd had trouble just kicking one stone and keeping up with all the runners in the beginning, and having to kick both pieces of the stone was like they were starting the Death March all over again.

By mid afternoon he had at least started getting the hang of it, although ever so often when he kicked a piece of the stone with his left foot it would stray off course and he'd have to veer off to the side to get, sometimes having to wait for cars to pass by before being able to reach it.

That was the first sign that they were finally starting to get close to their destination. Usually Sena could probably count the number of cars that passed by them every couple of hours on one hand, but vehicles were starting to pass them by more frequently.

Their days of hellish training were almost over.

It was just after midnight when Sena had finally been able to co-ordinate his kicks well enough to get himself back up with the other runners, he had taken his eyes off the road ahead of them for just a moment to make sure he still had both pieces of his stone with him, and it seemed like just as soon as he looked up, that's when the lights in the distance appeared.

He almost stopped in the tracks, wondering if this was some sort of mirage, but he quickly shook the thought away.

Just another hour of running, maybe even less, and they'd finally make it to Las Vegas, their summer training would be over and they could finally go back to Japan. And then, in just a little more than a week, the Fall Tournament would begin.

Sena picked up his speed, eerily aware that everyone else was doing the same, pushing themselves even harder now that the end was in sight. They weren't going to finish this training by slowly walking into the city, obviously exhausted.

They were going to finish it with a bang.


	71. Chapter 71

FASH: I got so many awesome reviews for the last chapter, you guys are the greatest! And with this chapter we're finally finishing off volume ten! Also, I know you're not supposed to use your cell phones on planes but let's just pretend it's okay.

"-speech

''-thoughts

They entered the city with a fierce determination, not stopping until their path was cut off by a magnificent fountain and hat when when they all finally allowed the information to fully seep into their brain.

They had made it, the entire team had been able to run the 2,000 km of the Death March together. Several members of the team had joyous tears in their eyes while most just collapsed before the fountain, throughly exhausted from the very end of their journey.

Doburoku weaved through the fallen bodies carefully, a large smile forming on his lips.

"I underestimated you guys, I never thought you'd all make it." He admitted. "With your increased stamina you should be a lot stronger than you were a month ago."

"Really?" Kuroki asked breathlessly from his spot on the ground.

"The truck did seem to get lighter near the end." Toganou mused and Doburoku nodded before firm look was set across his features.

"But that won't be enough to beat the powerful teams in the east! You lasted through this torture to the end. Experience and courage helped you uncover your true abilities..."

In spite his efforts to keep his eyes open, Sena found that they were gradually beginning to close of their own will.

"In a sense, football is a triumph of the will. That's what I'm betting on. Now, let's have a drink for the finishing run! You ran a great 2,000 km! You're the best!"

"That was quite a speech." Sena heard Hiruma reply. "But no one was listening."

After what seemed like an eternity later Sena was aware that he was being pulled to his feet and lead somewhere. He didn't bother opening his eyes to se exactly where that somewhere was and he stumbled every once in a while, still completely tired from the effort he'd put forth at the end of the Death March, not that he regretted it.

He was pushed onto something soft and smelling deeply of detergent. A bed.

He relaxed, not even tensing up when he heard the tell-tale cocking of a gun and bullets being shot.

"Hey you! This isn't the finishing line! The start of the fall season is!" Hiruma shouted demonically.

"Don't you think that's enough?" Mamori questioned and Sena slowly pried one eye open to see that she was protecting him from the bullets with a mop of all things.

He quickly shut his eye again, not wanting anyone to discover he was still awake, and he quickly went to sleep.

He and Monta were the first ones up the next day and had taken to excitedly looking out the window to the city below.

"I bet Juri-neechan would love this place, it's so flashy and bright. She'd probably..." Sena trailed off, pursing his lips together as if he'd just thought of something disturbing.

"What's with the sudden silence dud, cat got your tongue?" Monta asked jokingly and Sena swallowed, trying to cure his sudden dry throat.

"I just realized something."

Monta furrowed his eyebrows. "About what?"

"I have for female friends in my life. Maruko-neechan thinks I'm a girl, Juri-neechan thinks I have a crush on Akaba-san, Suzuna seems to think that I like Hiruma-san." Monta shuddered at that. "And Mamori-neechan appears to be thinking that I'm gay. All the girls in my life think I don't like girls."

"Oh, you're still upset about that stuff?" Monta questioned cooly. "It doesn't matter, besides, the first one doesn't even count because she doesn't even know you're a guy." He patted Sena on the back. "And at east your mom doesn't think about stuff like that, right? Cause then I'm pretty sure your life would be pretty chaotic."

Sena traced invisible patterns onto the window with his pointer finger. "I suppose you have a point..." He turned away from the window and looked around the room. "Where do you suppose Doburoku-sensei went?"

"He was drinking last night. He could have wandered off."

Sena tensed and turned to Monta slowly. "It can be scary when you're drunk." He said seriously. "You could end up hanging from strange places." He spoke from experience and Monta furrowed his eyebrows before turning back to the window and looking down.

"Isn't that just you? Or... Maybe not!" He finished in a panic and Sena quickly looked down to where Monta eyes were staring,

Doburoki was hanging from the front of a decorative pirate ship.

The pair of them quickly rushed out of their room and towards the ship to retrieve Doburoku from his precarious position.

"Uh, sorry." Doburoku managed to say once they had reached the relative safety of the fore of the ship. "I just had a farewell drink."

"Farewell?" Monta and Sena questioned in unison.

"You see, I can't go back to Japan."

"WHAT?"

"There's nothing I'd like more than to be your trainer, but I fled to America because of a twenty million yen debt."

"Debt?! We can put our allowances together!" Monta chimed optimistically.

"Uh, I think twenty million is a little out of our reach." Sena commented dryly, fumbling to catch a football when Doburoku tossed one his way.

"I'll take a look before you go. You should be ready for some devil running, Devil Bat Ghost." Doburoku shifted, widening his stance. "I'm going to crush you for real, see if you can get past me."

Sena clutched the ball tightly to his chest, eyes narrowing in concentration. 'Can I beat Doburoku-sensei?' He questioned himself before he took off. 'I've been practicing for 2,000 km to brake without losing speed and zig-zag. If I can't make it past him now, then what's the chance that I'll be able to challenge some of the great players out there?' He pushed away from the surface below him, barreling towards Doburoku.

'I need to win this, I need to prove myself worthy of the title Eyeshield 21.'

And just like that, Doburku had been passed and Sena found himself fumbling to a stop, not quite able to believe what had just happened. 'Did I make it past him, really?' He turned around, eyes wide and breaths coming in quick, shallow bursts.

'I did it.'

"Heh, it's going to be fun unveiling that move in the fall season." Doburoku said with a content laugh. "Now let's go see what the hell Hiruma's up to, I saw him wandering around last night, I bet he's up to no good." He said in a good natured way as they got off the ship.

They were quick to find Hiruma and just as Doburoku had expected he'd been up to no good, although what he was doing was turning out to be quite a shock.

He was selling the Devil Bat Truck.

Doburoku began to angrily reprimand him, only to have Hiruma snap back. "Aren't you the Devil Bat's trainer? You don't need to move around this in America, because we're going to pay off your debt and then you're coming back to Japan with us!"

"But it's twenty million yen! How are you possibly going to make that sort of amount?"

"You damn lush, have you forgotten what sort of city Las Vegas is?"

Sena and Monta threw each other a look. Gambling, deceit, buffing. This was definitely Hiruma's type of city.

'He's going to make that much no problem. There's not a casino on Earth that can beat Hiruma-san at it's own games... But wait, is Hiruma-san even old enough to gamble?'

Apparently so, because in just another five hours the entire team entered a casino, and Hiruma wasn't the only one trying to win back Doburoku's debt. Sena wasn't entirely sure what sort of laws they had in America, but he was pretty certain that fifteen years old weren't legally allowed to gamble.

Well, maybe those laws were ignored in Las Vegas.

He and Monta made their way over to a roulette wheel, with only one chip the odds would have been too stacked against them for any other 'game of chance', at least with this they only needed to choose red or black, fifty fifty chances.

Monta quickly took charge and bet on red, the colour of their uniforms and upon winning the fist time he bet on black for their helmets, hoping to keep doubling their money.

Sena, deciding that Monta was handling the situation, began looking around the casino, Mamori, Yukimitsu, Taki and Suzuna were over by a table playing some sort of game with dice. His eyes flickered over to the sot machines where all of the linemen were. Komusubi seemed to doing excellent and everyone else, not so excellent.

Juumonji, Kuroki and Toganou were throwing the smaller boy dark looks before dashing off somewhere, presumably to get more chips in the hopes that they'd be able to beat him sooner or later. Kurita didn't seem to be doing very well either, something that was quickly solved when he slammed his hands against the machine, although by doing so he was dragged away by someone who Sena assumed was security.

He turned back to the roulette table when he heard Monta ask what colour they should bet on next.

"Black." He stated, allowing himself to get more into the game now that Monta was letting him pick some colours too.

The continued on like that for what could very well have been hours and Sena couldn't believe they were being as lucky as they were. By the time everyone else came to check up on them they'd won one hundred and thirty thousand dollars.

'I really doubt this lucky streak is going to last much longer though.' "Let's stop now, we've won enough already." He told Monta, although the other boy looked very unsure.

"Did you know if you bet on the numbers, the odds are thirty six to one?" Douroku just had to but in and Monta looked at their chips with wide eyes.

"So if we bet this all on one number, how much would we win?"

"Uh, five hundred million yen." Yukimitsu piped up and in a flash Monta pushed their chips forward.

"Bet all of it on Eyeshield's number 21!" He exclaimed and even when everyone tried to talk him out of it he seemed exceedingly confident that they'd win.

And they lost of course, and Monta was given a firm 'talking to' by Juumonji, Kuroki and Toganou.

"I guess the house always wins in the end, doesn't it?" Sena questioned and Yukimitsu shook his head.

"In Black Jack that isn't really true. There's a trick called counting cards. If you remember the card that are dealt, you'll know which cards are left." He explained as he lead them over to a Black Jack table. "There are six decks and three hundred and twelve cards. You have to remember every single card. But if you count on your fingers or take notes they'll catch you for breaking rules."

"So basically it's pretty much impossible?" Sena asked and Yukimitsu nodded. 'But I bet there's someone here who has the brain power for this sort of thing.' He scanned the tables, not at all surprised when his eyes landed on a certain blonde.

In just another two hours Hiruma had, completely by himself, won back all the money Doburoku would need to pay off his debt. Although he did assure the older man that this was a loan he'd be paying back for life, so it really didn't seem like a token of goodwill.

"Alright you damn kids, we've got a plane to catch, hurry it up!" He demanded as they began leaving the casino back to the hotel to grab all their stuff before rushing to the airport to catch the four in the morning flight Hiruma had booked for them only God knows when.

Everyone settled in their seats, tired after their long night of more than likely illegal gambling, and one by one they fell asleep.

Sena slowly drifted back into the waking world when a rhythmic tapping began on his shoulder, his eyes fluttered open and he stared with a raised eyebrow at the blonde who was standing beside him.

"Did you need something, Hiruma-san?" He asked quietly and Hiruma shoved something close to Sena's face.

The brunette blinked curiously, it was his cell phone.

"We're close enough that you could call without getting roaming charges and we'll be landing soon anyways. You might as well take it back and call up some people who are just dying to hear from you." He said snidely as he pushed the phone into Sena's hands. "It's late afternoon in Japan, everyone's training s probably almost over anyways."

"But wouldn't they just find it bothersome of me to call them and interrupt whatever they may be doing just to tell them I'm almost home?"

Hiruma snorted. "Would you rather call them now and have them come to greet you at the airport, or have them find out later that you're home and demand why you didn't call them to say you were back."

Sena pursed his lips together. 'He has a point, as per usual. But first things first, I better call home, otherwise mom is going to flip out even more when I finally get there.'

He dialed his home phone number, casting Hiruma a cautious glance when the older boy didn't move away to give him any privacy.

"Um, Hiruma-san, is there a reason-"

"Hello, Kobayakawa residence." His mother greeted cheerily from the other end and Sena felt a smile grow on his face, no longer caring that Hiruma seemed intent on staying by his side and listening in on his conversation.

"Hey mom, I'm coming home."

The other end went completely silent and Sena frowned, unsure if the connection had gone bad.

"Mom, are you-"

"Sena, you bad boy! You're only calling me now! You didn't even call when you left, Mamori-chan did it for you!"

"But mom, I wasn't allowed-"

"Don't go making up an excuse young man! I'm sure there were plenty of chances for you to call but you just didn't think of letting your poor mother know that her only child is completely fine even though he's in a completely different country on the other side of the world! Do you know how worried everyone's been?! And what's this I've heard about you sending an email to your friends to let them now your fine, when you don't even bother sending one to your father?!"

Sena had taken to holding the phone away from his ear as his mother ranted loud enough for Hiruma to make out exactly what she was saying, and even while sleeping Mamori seemed to hear the angry yells and turned to the side with a murmur.

"Mom, I don't know dad's email for work, I've never had to send him one before."

"Then you could have sent a normal letter! When you are getting home you are going to be so grounded! I'm not going to let you out of my sight except for when you're in school! And just when exactly will you be back?!"

"We should be landed and through customs in a couple hours."

"And how do you plan on getting home from the airport?"

"Uh." Sena flickered his eyes over to the smirking boy beside him. "I'm sure Hiruma-san has it covered, I'll be home before it gets too late."

"Hiruna-san, huh? You know, after what mamori-chan told me, I think I'm going to have to meet this upperclassman of yours and give him a firm talking to about he way he runs things."

Hiruma's smirk widened and he mouthed 'any time'.

The other calls had, thankfully, gone much better. Juri was just happy he hadn't died, Takami demanded that Sena tell him if anything bad happened in America while he'd been away once they met up again, Unsui had been very calm about the situation, and Agon had been unreachable.

The last one was probably the most comforting, he really didn't want to know what would happen if Agon knew he was back. The older boy would probably get one of his girlfriends to drive him to the airport and then as soon as Hiruma was in sight there was going to be one hell of a fight.

After finally contacting every he settled down for a few more precious moments of sleep, only to find out they'd be landing in a couple of minutes from Hiruma, who'd been hovering around him the entire time he'd been making calls.

"You can sleep once you get home fucking shrimp, you've just got a couple more hours to go." Hiruma said lazily before finally making his way back to his own seat.

'But I want to sleep now.' Sena mentally whined, although he knew full well that even if he tried to go back to sleep, he'd only wake up again when his ears began popping due to their decent. With a reluctant sigh he sat up a bit straighter in his seat and willed himself to stay awake.

Those others woke up not long after, just as the plane was beginning to land, and just as they had when they had gone to America, they were able to move through customs unusually fast. They had picked up their respective luggage and were just about to leave when they heard something that made them stop in their tracks.

"SENA!"

The brunette was pounced on from behind by Juri who wrapped her arms tightly around him and didn't seem intent on letting go any time soon.

"Oh, I was so worried! I didn't know if you'd come back alive!" She cried dramatically and Sena tried to squirm out of her grip, only to have it tighten around him even more.

His sent his teammates a look that he really hoped sent the message 'save me' loud and clear and he went limp with relief when Mamori cautiously stepped forward.

"Juri-chan if you hold him much tighter, you're going to cut off his air supply."

The other girl's hold immediately loosened, although she didn't let go completely.

"Mamori-chan, thank goodness at least you were there with him, Sena's to adorable to be left alone with hormonal-"

"Juri-neechan, don't finish that sentence." Sena demanded softly, silently thanking the powers that be when she did as he asked.

Mamori shot Juri an understanding look which Sena chose to ignore as he removed himself from Juri's grasp, only to be swept up into another hg.

Hiruma rolled his eyes. "If this keeps up it's going to be a while until we can all finally leave this fucking airport."

Sena ignored the comment and awkwardly turned around in the iron grip. "Hey Takami-niichan, good to see you."

"It's good to see you too Sena, why did you never email me back after that first time, I was worried."

"I, uh, couldn't get to a computer." Sena explained and Takami nodded in understanding.

"Fucking shrimp, get moving or you'll get left behind." Hiruma ordered and Takami, Mamori and Juri all bristled in unison.

"Well, you heard the man, I'd better get going."

"I'm coming with you. I'm sure if I explain to her that this surprise training trip wasn't your fault, she'll go a bit easier on you." Takami stated and Juri planted her hands on her hips.

"If he gets to go with you then so am I!"

Hiruma cursed darkly under his breath as he lead everyone outside to their mode of transportation.

The ride back home on the bus was awkward to say the least, Takami and Juri were not so subtly questioning him about how he'd been treated during the summer and no matter what he said in response, they never really seemed to believe him until Mamori piped up to say that he was telling the truth. And Juri seemed to be constantly questioning how he'd been able to survive for the whole summer with only one suitcase and demanding to know how often he'd done his laundry.

When he was finally dropped off on his street he bid his teammates goodbye before finally making his way home, being trailed by Juri and Takami.

Well, he supposed it could have been worse.


	72. Chapter 72

FASH: The typos from last chapter are mostly from the fact that I got a new laptop and I'm trying to get used to the new keyboard. Sorry, I'll try and edit it better this time around. And babies? Wha? Man, I use the phrase 'it could have been worse' a lot.

""-speech

''-thoughts

He entered is house slowly and quietly, peering around to make sure that his mother wasn't hiding around any corners, ready to jump out at him and scare him half to death for making her worried.

Juri and Takami followed behind him and Sena was fairly certain that they were amused at his caution, although he didn't bother looking back to check their facial expressions.

When he finally crept to the kitchen and peered into the room he was surprised to see that Unsui was sitting down with his mother at the table and Sena was thankful that Agon was no where to be found. He'd have to deal with the dread-head's protective streak soon, but he'd rather put it off for as long as possible.

Unsui was the first to catch sight of him and he paused in their conversation, prompting his mother to swivel her head and stare right at him.

And the next thing Sena knew he was in another bone crushing embrace, his mother shakily reprimanding him like she had done on the phone hours ago before finally letting him go.

"Thank you so much for escorting Sena home." She directed at Juri and Takami who both smiled kindly at her.

"It was no problem." Juri insisted.

"And I think we both just wanted to make sure he was completely fine." Takami added and suddenly everyone seemed to go dead serious.

'Am I missing something here?' Sena thought weakly as he looked from face to face. 'It's like they all think Hiruma-san tortured me all summer long.'

Unsui discreetly coughed into his fist as he stood up from the table and his eyes flickered in Sena's direction. "I left Agon a voice mail so that he knows you're back. I'm not sure when he'll get it, he had a date today so I'm not sure when he'll come home."

Sena nodded in understanding and from the corner of his eye he noticed that both Juri and Takami tensed at the mention of Agon's name, perhaps still unable to believe that Sena was on friendly terms with the older boy.

"In any case, I just wanted to drop by to make sure everything was fine. I'll assure Agon that you're okay as much as I can, but he might want to see for himself." Unsui smiled wryly as he walked forward. "You had him really worried, not that he'd admit it."

Sena didn't really doubt it, but by the expression on Takami and Juri's faces, they both found the idea of Agon getting worried unbelievable.

"Goodbye Sena, be sure to rest up before school or the jet lag is going to interfere with your studies." Sena nodded in agreement, chirping a quick goodbye before Unsui escorted himself out of the house.

"Well, would anyone like a cup of tea?" Sena's mother offered and with a smile both of Sena's remaining elder sibling figures took her up on that offer.

They sat around the table, lightly talking about the recent weather, going back to school and other unimportant topics before his mother began questioning the pair about Hiruma and what sort of person he was.

Sena gave Takami and Juri a sharp look that they easily ignored as they began to speak of the enigma know as Hiruma, praising him just as much as they were cautioning against him.

Well, it could have been worse, they could have completely ignored that Hiruma was a tactical genius and capable of nearly impossible feats and just gone straight to the bad stuff.

After the tea Juri and Takami decided it was time to leave, after checking to make sure Sena was alright for what seemed like the fortieth time, and after another firm scolding from his mother and a demand to meet Hiruma so she could see what he was like Sena was finally told to go to his room.

He slowly made his way up the stairs, not able to mask his displeasure at having to be under some sort of house arrest, although for reasons his mother probably wouldn't have guessed.

He'd been sitting around all day, not being able to run was like a shock to his system after the last forty days of intense training.

'Maybe I could sneak out and run around the block a couple dozen times without her finding out?' He entertained the thought for all of five seconds before scrapping it.

If he left the house, his mother would just instinctively know.

He entered his room and walked inside, eyes roaming around as he re-acquainted himself with the space.

The air was stale from lack of circulation, making it blatantly obvious that no one had been in is room for a long time.

He dropped his lone bag of luggage on the floor and made his way to his bed, not even bothering to change into his pajamas.

If he couldn't run, he may as well go to sleep so that he didn't have to think about how much he wanted to run.

He was just beginning to drift off when his lights flicked on and his mother's voice drifted over him, sounding far too cheerful.

"Sena, someone's here to see you." She called in a sing-song voice before speaking a little lower. "He's tired from the trip back, but I'm sure he'll wake up a bit to speak with you."

Sena sat up and turned to his side, expecting to see his father, but his eyes widened when that thought was proven wrong.

Agon was standing in his doorway, one of his extremely fake, innocent smiles plastered on his face.

"Thank you Kobayakawa-san." He said, his voice sounding lighter than it normally did and Sena's mother smiled brightly at him before closing the door, leaving the two boys alone in the room.

Sena gulped nervously as Agon's expression darkened. "Uh... I'm home?"

Agon growled and surged forward, one arm wrapping around Sena in some sort of mimic of a hug while his other hand gripped at Sena's chin, tugging the younger boy's face up so that they were eye to eye.

"You are never going to leave like that without telling me. Ever. Again." He stressed before finally letting go and standing at his imposing full height in front of Sena, who felt even smaller than normal since he was sitting down.

"It wasn't really my fault Agon-san, I would have called you if I had the time." Sena began cautiously, not wanting to provoke Agon into doing anything violent. "Besides, it's not like I was gone for long, just the summer, I wouldn't have seen you much anyways because I'd be training."

Agon didn't look to be getting any calmer from Sena's excuses. "What about your other friends? Did you call them to let them know that you were leaving?"

"No." Sena replied, deciding not to mention that he had spoken to Takami before his cell phone had been taken away since Takami had been the one to call him. "The only reason my mom even knew about it was because Mamori-neechan called her. Besides, if you had been on a date, like you were a couple hours ago, you probably wouldn't even have gotten my call." He reasoned calmly, completely unprepared for when Agon abruptly sat down beside him and an arm wrapped around him once again.

Sena tensed, not entirely sure how he was supposed to react to this display of... Affection? Had it been someone else he may have reciprocated the gesture, or at least relaxed into the embrace, but Agon wasn't just anyone.

"When I get my hands on that fucking trash that took you away, damn that fucker's going to be _so_ dead." Agon threatened lowly and Sena turned to him, frowning.

"Hiruma-san is not at fault! He just wanted everyone to go on a special training regime!"

"One that involved you going to a different continent?" Agon asked with a sneer and Sena slowly shifted out of Agon's half hug as being so close to the seething boy was making him decidedly uncomfortable.

"Training is training, it doesn't matter where it happens as long as it happens." He said, tempted to ask if Agon had done any training over the summer, but he wouldn't dare it with Agon in this mood.

Actually he probably wouldn't dare to no matter what mood Agon was in, but he was sure his lack of guts could be forgiven since it was _Agon_.

Agon scoffed and stood up, finally giving Sena his much needed personal space. "And just what sort of training did you have to do?"

"It's a secret." Sena responded without missing a beat before turning onto his side. "I'm tired Agon-san, remember to shut off the lights and close the door on your way out."

He didn't have to be looking at him to know that Agon was gaping at him.

"You're dismissing me already?! I'm not done talking yet!"

Sena yawned dramatically before shifting around to find a more comfortable position, hoping that Agon would get the message.

"Fine, I'll go now, but I'm coming back tomorrow." He said before flicking off the lights and exiting the room, leaving Sena to finally get some much needed sleep.

He awoke after what seemed like far too little time to his father gently knocking on the door and announcing that he was coming in.

"Hey dad." He greeted softly, shifting a bit as his father sat down at the foot of his bed. "What's up?"

His father rose an eyebrow before gently cuffing him under the chin. "I imagine your mother already gave you hell for what you did and didn't do, so I'd just like to say welcome back son."

Sena smiled tiredly. "Thanks dad, it's good to be home."

"And I'm also here to tell you that there's someone here to see you, he's in the kitchen with your mother now getting reprimanded for breaking our doorbell instead of just knocking. Strange boy."

Sena blanched as he got out of bed, his legs oddly wobbly as if he'd been moving them around a lot in the night, wondering who exactly would break a doorbell. 'Maybe Agon-san came early, and if he was pissed off about yesterday he may have 'accidentally' used too much force.' He pursed his lips together as he exited his room and walked down the stairs towards the kitchen. 'But Agon-san wouldn't want to do anything that would make mom wary of him, right?' He looked up from his musings once he had reached the entrance to the kitchen.

"Sh-Shin-san?!" He all but yelled when he saw the linebacker, hardly able to keep back the urge to yell: 'why the heck are you here?'.

What was this, Visit Sena Day or something?

"Ah, Sena-kun." Shin lifted up his eyes at the exclamation of his name and turned towards the brunette, momentarily ignoring the rant Sena's mother was halfway through, a bad move on his part.

"Now you listen here young man, don't go ignoring me!" Mihae said, tugging on one of Shin's ears so that he was facing her again.

"My apologies, please continue." Shin said without batting an eyelash at the treatment he was receiving.

Mihae took a deep breath, more than ready to continue her reprimanding until Sena decided to step forward and interrupt.

"What brings you here Shin-san?" He intervened and Shin's attention once more became completely directed at him.

"I was told that you had come back home and was wondering if we might have a match. I would like to compare how we both have improved during the summer."

"Improved?" Shuma questioned, eyes glancing back and forth from his son to the boy sitting at the table. "What do you think Sena has improved in?"

Shin opened his mouth to respond, apparently not catching sight of Sena's restrained 'stop talking' gestures, only to be thankfully interrupted by his mother.

"It doesn't matter, Sena is grounded until further notice so I'm afraid he's not allowed to partake in this 'match'." She crossed her arms stubbornly and Shin furrowed his eyebrows.

"I see, I suppose I will just have to wait until your first match on Sunday."

"First match?" Shuma questioned again, eyebrows steadily rising.

"Shin-san is on Takami-niichan's football team, he just means he wants to see how I've improved as a manager!" Sena quickly covered and Shin, finally catching the drift, nodded.

"Well, I'm afraid you'll have to do that some other time." Mihae said, her tone a little softer now that she knew that the 'destructive boy' who'd broken their doorbell was associated with Takami.

"I understand, I shall be watching your decisions from the sidelines closely next Sunday." He said before excusing himself.

'Well, I suppose that could have gone worse.' At least he was up and about now for whenever Agon decided to show up, which, knowing him, probably wouldn't be until much, much later in the day.

And so, being unable to leave his house, forbidden from phoning or texting anyone and not allowed to play any video games, Sena braced himself for what was certain to be a long day of chores and cleaning his room.

After his father had left his mother immediately put him to work and as Sena dusted and reorganized his room, Pitt lazily watching from her perch on his bed, he couldn't help but wonder if he'd be cleaning his room every day for the rest of the summer.

And just how long was it until school started up again anyways? Shin had said the first match of the fall season would be the next sunday, but what day was today?

'I need a calendar or something...' He thought drearily after he'd made his bed, jerking to a halt when he thought he heard a knock.

He rushed down the stairs and towards the front door, hoping that Agon wouldn't be too angry with him for brushing him off like he had yesterday. But when he opened the door he found himself face to face with Monta.

'It really is Visit Sena Day.' He thought in amusement before shaking the thought away.

"Sorry Monta, but my mom's really mad about me leaving for the summer and not writing or anything, so now is not a really good time for you to meet her."

The boy in front of him nodded in understanding before his eyes nervously flickered around, the first sign that something wasn't right. "That's okay dude, I totally understand, my mom was kinda pissed about me not calling too. But _he_ said that now was a good a time as any to come over." He said, jerking his head back in the general direction of _something_ and Sena nervously trailed the movement, already knowing but wishing he was wrong about just what, or to be more precise, who Monta was gesturing at.

Hiruma grinned wickedly from where he stood several feet behind Monta, not brandishing any visible weapons, but someone like Hiruma was never truly unarmed.

His mother had finally come around from the back of the house and looked at the pair of boys standing outside the house in exasperation.

"And just who are these two fine fellows Sena?" She asked curtly.

"Well, this is Monta, he's the receiver on our team, and the one behind him." Sena paused and inhaled a shaky breath. "Is Hiruma-san."

His mother's eyes sharped slightly and a smile that would probably freak him out for the rest of his teenaged years grew on her face.

"Is that so? I've heard so much about you Hiruma-kun." She said and Sena had a feeling that Monta wasn't offended at all that his mother wasn't paying his normal friend any attention.

"Why don't you boys come in? I have been wanting to meet Sena's friends, you especially." She directed at the blonde and Hiruma smiled a creepily innocent smile.

"I know." Was all he said before brushing past Monta and Sena and entering the house, the two younger boys threw each other worried looks before following after Mihae and the quarterback.

'I can deal with this, even if mom and Hiruma-san are acting scary, well, scarier than normal. Just as long as Hiruma-san is out of here before Agon-san comes over.'

He carefully looked at Hiruma from the corner of his eye. Hiruma's fake innocence combined with Agon's would weird him out, not to mention they'd probably jokingly threaten the other with only Sena and Monta realizing how real and extremely violent those threats were.

'Oh, please let him leave before Agon-san gets here.'


	73. Chapter 73

FASH: Happy Thanksgiving to all my fellow Canadians out there, and to anyone else who might celebrate Turkey Day at the beginning of October instead of near Christmas.

""-speech

''-thoughts

He really should have known as soon as he'd seen Hiruma that this whole day was going to get shot to hell, no matter how much he wished otherwise.

The blonde was currently speaking with his mother and Sena was sure he could feel some sort of unimaginable tension between the two. It was as if his mother was just waiting for Hiruma to transform into some demon from the depths of hell while Hiruma waited for his mother to finally get bored with their idle chit-chat and demand to know his true colours.

At least Monta was here and they could talk to each other while trying to ignore the madness happening on the other side of the room.

And Hiruma was being a bit more civilized than he normally was, otherwise, with the way things had been going lately, he was pretty certain his mother would demand he never have anything to do with Hiruma again and proceed to have him transferred to a different school to assure her order would be obeyed.

"Man, you don't remind me of your mom at all." Monta whispered lowly and Sena gave him a dry smile.

"I take after my dad."

Mihae was pulled away from her thinly veiled interrogation when she absentmindedly checked her watch to see it was just a little past noon.

"Oh my, I'd better get you boys something to eat, I can't come off as a terrible hostess after all." She slowly got up and gave one final, lingering look at Hiruma before turning her now soft eyes to Sena and Monta.

"I'll be back in just a few moments boys, please carry on without me."

Hiruma snorted as soon as she left the room before a wry smile started blooming on his lips, causing both Sena and Monta to slowly shift further away from the blonde.

"Too bad you don't take after your mom personality wise, it'd be so much easier to gather blackmail from people when they're being stared down by a person who looks like they could get away with murder on a normal day." He folded his arms behind his head and Sena was half certain that he sighed in contentment.

'This is just weird.' He thought, not for the first time since Hiruma had stepped into his house, and he knew from looking at his friend's expression that Monta was thinking along the same lines.

"So, what brings you guys over here today of all days?" Sena asked, desperately hoping the answer didn't involve Hiruma bugging his house in the past, thus knowing that his mother wanted to meet him.

Monta shrugged his shoulders. "I was just re-organizing myself for when school starts till Hiruma-san came over and, uh, convinced me that we should visit you."

"I figured if your mom wants to meet me so badly, I might as well come over to see her before school starts and I become too busy to bother." Hiruma replied simply, eyes flickering over at Sena in that all knowing way of his.

'He better not have bugged my house...'

A fairly awkward silence descended upon them afterwards, neither Monta or Sena wanting to start up a conversation with Hiruma so close by and Hiruma seemed content to just sit back and do nothing as the atmosphere in the room became more tense.

Sena's mother returned a few minutes later, clasping her hands together and frowning at the absolute silence of the room. "Well boys, if you could please follow me to the kitchen we can all have a bite to eat."

Monta sprang up from the couch, intensely happy that they were being allowed to leave the extremely silent room.

"Just in time! I was starting to get max hungry!"

Mihae quirked an eyebrow and her lips spread in an amused smile.

Well, at least it seemed as though she had taken a liking to Monta, Hiruma on the other hand he wasn't so sure about.

They made their way to the kitchen and just entered it when someone knocked on the front door, causing Sena's heart to try and leap up his throat while pounding harder than it ever had when he was running during the Death March.

His mother went to answer the door and Sena tried to calm himself down. Agon was more of a night owl than anything, he wouldn't come to meet up with Sena mid-day when there were dates he could be panning or something. It couldn't be him, even though his mind was screaming that no matter how hard he tried to deny it, it had to be.

And he knew he was right when he heard his mother happily greet the person who had knocked on the door before two sets of footsteps began walking towards the kitchen.

"Hey dude, you okay?" Monta asked when he saw how strangely pale Sena had become, even Hiruma looked mildly concerned, although he also had a smirk on his face so he must have known who his mother was leading to them this very moment.

He resisted the urge to leap under a table and take cover and instead crossed his fingers for luck as he sat down at the table, praying that no one would die from this encounter.

"Oh Sena, look who came to visit again." His mother cooed sweetly as she entered the kitchen, Agon trailing behind her, his eyes instantly narrowing when he saw who else was in the room.

"H-hi Agon-san." Sena said weakly and Agon's focuss slowly shifted from Hiruma back to him, his expression becoming less bone chilling as he did so.

"Hey kid, didn't know your mom would let this sub-human creature into your house." Agon said in a easy tone of voice, as if it were just a joke.

Mihae was the only one who didn't seem to see it for the insult that it truly was.

"Same here, I would have thought that mothers usually told their children to stay away from one track minded guys like you." Hiruma responded with an innocent smile.

Agon clenched his fists, clearly wanting to beat the living daylights out of any and all blondes on the premises but unable to as long as Mihae was in the room. So instead he stepped past Mihae and sat beside Sena at the table, eyes wide with fake innocence as he looked at Hiruma who was seated across from them.

"One track minded? Didn't you know that all work and no play makes you a very dull boy? Besides, if anyone here is one track minded it's obviously you. You need to get a girlfriend instead of thinking about football all the time." He smirked deviously and leaned in a bit, speaking so lowly that Sena could hardly hear. "That is, if you like girls."

Sena resisted the urge to face-palm. Why was it that every time Hiruma and Agon were together they decided to make stabs at the other's sexuality? It was pretty disturbing.

He instead stood up from his seat and began pulling out glasses to put on the table, his mother following his lead and beginning to pull out plates, politely asking Agon if he would like to stay for lunch.

Agon smiled, although his expression could hardly be anything even distantly related to pleasant, and said 'sure'.

And that was how Visit Sena Day became Make Sena's Life Hell Day.

It hadn't been too bad at first. With his mother there Hiruma and Agon couldn't become physically violent with each other, although their joking comments that everyone but his mother realized weren't jokes were enough to give him waking nightmares.

Then, as if to put icing on the horror cake, his mother decided to leave to go shopping, figuring that they boys were mature enough to take care of themselves.

As soon as his mother walked out the front door everything went tense and, in an effort to cease the madness before it started Sena blurted out the first things that came to mind.

"If either of you cause any property damage, I'm never speaking to you again."

Hiruma and Agon both cocked an eyebrow, as if the threat didn't mean much to them.

"And then I'll tell Mamori-neechan that you both are making me witness violence."

The both of them still looked very unconcerned and Monta was staring at him, trying to figure out what strategy Sena was trying to use to make them stop fighting.

Agon cracked his knuckles, Hiruma dug a hand into his pocket and Sena desperately tried to figure out something to say that would make them stop fighting.

And of course it just had to be the topic that had been bothering him for a while.

"Do you guys think I'm gay?"

Everyone froze, well, except Monta who'd already told Sena his opinion on this particular topic. But Hiruma and Agon were frozen in place and it looked like they'd forgotten how to breathe.

Which was kind of weird, considering how much Agon and Hiruma had kept on claiming that the other wasn't straight when Sena had gone to Agon's school for a visit.

"... Where did you get that idea?" Agon was the first to break the silence.

"Well, everyone else seems to think that I am already..." He didn't add that it was also just a ploy to get the two to not fight, they were probably both smart enough to figure that out.

"Just because the trash forced you to dress up a couple times doesn't mean you're any different from me."

Hiruma snorted at that and rolled his eyes.

"You got something to say to my face, trash?" Agon practically hissed as he leaned in and Hiruma nonchalantly met his heated gaze.

"The shrimp is nothing like you, you man whore."

"You're just jealous that I get way more action than you."

"Heh. As if I'd be jealous of the way you fool around, trying to convince yourself and everyone around you that you're-"

"Hiruma-san, don't finish that sentence!" Sena yelled, thankful when the attention turned back to him before the death threats could begin.

"I know you both are keen on questioning each others sexuality, but could you please refrain from doing so while innocent bystanders are around?" He asked as he gestured to himself and Monta and Hiruma rolled his eyes.

"I didn't know the topic was so sensitive for you." He said dryly. "Don't think too hard about what those girls, and the occasional guy, think about you, the only thing you should worry about is football, not relationship problems."

"What the hell?! Going out on dates is a major part of growing up, how can you expect Sena to mature properly when he doesn't get enough romantic involvement with girls?"

Monta and Sena were both slowly backing out of the kitchen, eyes glued on the oncoming train-wreck in front of them, unable to pull their eyes away until they were separated from the violent pair by several walls.

"I just hope they only throw verbal insults instead of starting a riot in there. If mom came home to see the two of them fighting there is going to be some serious reprimanding going on."

Monta 'hmm'-ed, rubbing at his chin thoughtfully. "Did you notice that, although they did sort of defend your sexuality, they never actual told you what they thought? They weren't like, dude, you're totally straight. They were more like, dude, you could still be straight even though you pretended to be a girl, you know?"

Sena sighed. "Actually I didn't really notice that, but now that you've brought it up I can't help but wonder what they actually think."

"Oh, sorry."

"No, it's okay Monta, it's probably good for me to be aware of these things, so I don't give anyone the wrong impression."

Monta brightened up. "If that's the case, when Hiruma-san said that the 'occasional guy' also thinks that you're, you know, who do you think he was talking about?"

"I don't even want to think about it. But... there was this one time Takami-niichan said something about 'suitors', even though since I'm a guy I don't think I should have suitors..." Sena paused shook his head, trying to dispel the thoughts that recollection brought with it.

If Takami thought he was gay, would Shin have caught on?

"Hey Sena." Monta began again and Sena resisted the urge to cover his ears, thinking that maybe Monta was going to bring another part of the conversation up for discussion.

"Did you notice that it's been really quiet, even though Hiruma-san and the other guy are supposed to be, I don't know, fighting to defend your virtue or something?"

Sena's eyebrows rose at the wording, but he got the point.

If Hiruma and Agon wanted to get all murderous with each other, surely they should be making some noise.

'Unless... They're making another deal...'

That wasn't a comforting thought, seeing as the last time they'd made a deal instead of finishing their fight Sena ended up having to be escorted by Agon everywhere anytime Hiruma sent him to spy.

"Monta, you wait here, if I don't come back in five minutes, think of some way to bust me out of there." Sena said bravely as he steeled his nerves and took the plunge, moving from his safe haven back to the kitchen.

The tense atmosphere was still there, as was the hateful glaring and rude hand gestures, but ultimately this wasn't the blood-bath Sena had been expecting.

"Okay, what's going on here? You two aren't scheming together are you, I don't think I can handle another one of your win-lose for you, lose-lose for me situations."

"Che, always so suspicious." Hiruma chuckled, perhaps not feeling like admitting that he gave Sena plenty of reasons to be suspicious.

"Just because I want to snap that guy's neck doesn't mean I'm going to do so in your house. I prefer to commit murder in the darker areas of the city."

Sena nervously laughed, dearly hoping that Agon was just joking about the murder. You could never be too sure with him.

"In any case, I'm not going to let your mom see my bad side, cause then she'll tell my mom and then that'll just get annoying." Agon finished.

"And I need to act at least slightly more... Proper than normal. Your mom's already pissed about taking you away from the summer, I don't want her deciding that hanging around me is bad for you." Hiruma said with a shrug.

"So... You two aren't going to kill each other?" Sena asked hopefully.

"Not until we leave the house." Was the answer from both, just as another voice rang through the house.

"Sena! Incoming!" Monta screeched from wherever he was and Sena wondered if his friend was bad at estimating how much time had passed, surely it had only been a couple minutes, not five.

Then he heard the flurry of paws against the wooden floor and he turned around just in time to see a blur of black and white enter the kitchen before launching itself at Agon.

"What the hell?!" Agon stared at the little fur ball currently attached to his pants via teeth and claws. "Get off me!"

"Pitt, be a good girl." Sena cooed softly as he lowered himself to the ground, easily coercing the small cat to detach itself from Agon and move into Sena's outstretched arms.

Pitt made herself comfortable in Sena's embrace and her eyes lazily flickered to the boy who she'd been using as a chew toy, when he glared back she hissed darkly, as if daring him to try anything while Sena was with her.

"Stupid cats." Agon muttered under his breath.

"Hey, Pitt is a very intelligent feline, aren't you Pitt?" Sena asked sweetly while she surveyed the room, her eyes landed on Hiruma and she hissed again, causing Sena to frown.

"I guess there's something about you two that she doesn't like though..." He trailed off as Monta came in the room to stand beside him, giving Sena a curious look before his eyes dropped down to the cat in Sena's arms.

Pitt's ears twitched a little, but she snuggled back into Sena's embrace instead of doing a repeat performance of her earlier hisses.

"I'd love to stick around, but my mom's got me on the most strict curfew anyone's ever heard of for the rest of the summer, so I've got to get going. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" Sena parroted and Monta nodded.

"Yeah, because that's the first day of school."

"Really?" 'Was no one planning on telling me this until the very last minute or something?'

"I'd better get going too, I've got a couple more things to take care of before tomorrow. Tell your mom I said goodbye." Hiruma said as he got up from the table, walking with Monta back out the front door, Sena weakly saying goodbye until he was left with only Agon.

"And then there were two." Agon said creepily behind him and Pitt hissed once more, causing Sena to smile a little.

"I think you mean, 'and then there were three'."


	74. Chapter 74

FASH: Dudes! As of last chapter this story reached one hundred thousand hits! (Shock) Man, when I started this like, eight months ago I never even thought it would be very popular in the first place and when it did get well received I decided to extend it past how long I was originally going to make it and I'm so happy I did. Thank you all for your continued interest in my story!

""-speech

''-thoughts

Agon furrowed his eyebrows and threw Pitt a distasteful look, but didn't bother trying to correct what he thought was an obvious misconception.

"Whatever, now that your little friends are gone we can finally get back down to business." He crossed his arms over his chest and opened his mouth to begin a torrent of questions, but before the interrogation could begin Sena held up a hand to silence him.

"I was there of my own free will, Hiruma-san didn't hurt me, I was completely safe the entire time and I was never sexually assaulted." He said with a sigh, wondering if he'd left out any other answers to questions Agon would have wanted to ask.

Agon pursed his lips together in a clearly unamused fashion. "Then what's gotten into you? Making you start to question your sexuality? You're sure no one tried anything?"

"Goodness no, Mamori-neechan would probably destroy anyone who tried anything on me." Sena said truthfully, absentmindedly scratching Pitt behind the ears. "It's just a fair amount of people seem to think that I am anyways."

Agon scoffed. "Well, those opinions could be reversed easily."

"Really?" Sena's eyes widened. "There's a simple solution to this problem?"

"Of course." The older boy said calmly before continuing on, with a completely straight face. "Just find a girl and make out with her in front of everyone who thinks you're gay."

Sena nearly dropped Pitt in shock. "Wh-what?!" He asked, blushing hotly. "I couldn't do that! That's-that's like-like-"

"Exhibitionism?" Agon helpfully supplied. "But it would definitely make them change their minds. I could find a girl for you, make sure she'd be a good first for you and stuff."

Sena closed his eyes and pretended Agon hadn't just offered something like that as he slowly set Pitt down on the ground.

"It may take a while to find a girl that's right or you. It's not like I'm going to let just anyone take your first kiss or anything. And I could-"

"Agon-san, be quiet."

Agon frowned. "Hey, I'm just trying to help here! If you're so certain that everyone thinks you're gay then things might get hard for you. If your classmates and the teams you go up against just think you're the manager and not the star player they won't have much respect for you in the first place, and then if they start thinking that you're gay you could get mixed up into a bunch of trouble." He leaned in closer so that he and Sena were eye to eye. "You were bullied before because you were small, an easy target, right? Well I hate to break it to you, but you haven't changed all that much physically and you may have friends at your school now, but even _Hiruma_ can't be everywhere at once. I'm just worried about you."

Sena took an uncomfortable step back. "I know Agon-san. But I'm not going to, you know, with some random girl just to, I don't know, salvage my non-existent reputation... Besides, everyone who's really my friend would accept me even if they thought I was gay, or even if I really did like guys... Right?" His voice wavered a bit and he looked up at Agon, uncertain of the older boy's answer.

"Of course they would still accept you, and if they didn't you could always come and tell me and I'll beat some sense into them." Agon cracked his knuckled for effect and, although the promise of violence wasn't needed, the reassurance made Sena feel a bit better.

"Thanks Agon-san."

"No problem kid." Agon ran a hand through his dreads awkwardly, probably unused to trying to verbally make people feel better.

"Sena, I'm home!" His mother called from the doorway. "A couple pairs of shoes are gone, did your friends from school leave already?" She strolled into the kitchen and her eyes flickered around, confirming her deduction. "That's too bad, it would have been nice to talk to them some more."

"They had things to get ready before school, but I'm sure they'd like to visit some other time when we're not busy with the tournament."

Agon scoffed and murmured under his breath. "I bet they'll be coming for a visit real soon then."

Sena frowned but didn't comment, the improvements everyone had made during the Death March would be showing soon enough.

Agon didn't stay for too much longer and soon enough Sena found himself in his room once more, preparing his things for school the next day.

The following morning Sena awoke in a decisively strange fashion, on his feet, while running in place on his bed.

"What's with all the noise!" His mother called from downstairs. "Sena, are still half asleep?"

'Not anymore.' He thought as he looked down at himself, dumbstruck.

'Man, I hope I don't start sleepwalking or something and actually end up going anywhere in my sleep.' He stepped off his bed cautiously and glanced at his clock with a sigh.

Just another hour and he'd be sitting still in class when his body clearly wanted him to keep running along with the routine he'd set up during the summer with practice still hours away.

'The first day back from summer vacation is always the worst.' He thought as he slipped out of his pajamas and into his school uniform before gathering up his school bag and double checking to make sure everything he needed was inside before moving downstairs for breakfast with his parents.

"I know you've got to stay after school to watch over everyone's training, but I expect you to come right home afterwards, no dilly-dallying, okay?" His mother asked sternly and he nodded in understanding before moving to walk out the front door.

"Have a good day at school son." His father called and Sena nodded with a smile.

"I will."

As he had expected, the first day was a bit dull, especially when he just wanted to break out into a run during the middle of the assembly that the principal had arranged to ask all the students to try and avoid trouble and a certain student specifically to give him a break this semester.

At the request everyone in the gymnasium had subtly sought out Hiruma, who wasn't hard to find considering he was the only one sitting down in the crowd of students, and he had one of the huge guns he'd bought in America propped on his shoulder.

After the assembly Sena caught sight of Satake and Yamaoka, both proudly telling Mamori that they were going to be substitutes while Monta stood in front of Mamori in an almost protective way, his face clearly stating 'get lost'. Ishimaru had come by as well to ask how their summer practice had gone and Doburoku ended up swinging by to say he'd gotten a part time job at the school.

It was strange to be back at school, where no one but his teammates, and even then only the ones who'd come along on the Death March, knew about his identity. Sena figured his constant foot tapping, swaying and fiddling must have made him look like an impatient child to anyone who didn't know that the reason he was doing it was because of the sheer need to move.

He'd caught glimpses of some of the others doing at as well. Monta's fingers were nearly in constant motion while he'd seen Toganou and some of the other linemen unconsciously clench the muscles in their arms.

They were all eager to stop staying still and get back to practice.

Lunch was a welcome brake from the mundane tasks their teachers had given them to make them remember what they'd learnt before summer and gave Sena some time to speak with Monta, trying to ignore the way his legs were swinging underneath his chair.

"Hey, I saw the football team on TV!" An unfamiliar voice broke through he and Monta's hushed conversation about the Death March and they both turned to see one of their classmates grinning at them.

"I heard the season starts Sunday." He continued and one of his friends nodded.

"I'll be watching you guys, go for it!"

Monta basked in the praise and Sena perked up a little, he'd almost forgotten that their game against the Aliens had been filmed.

"Woah, we're pretty popular." He said with a smile, blinking in confusion when a hand patted his shoulder.

"You too manager, good luck." Another classmate said from behind him before wandering off and Sena's smile widened.

'Maybe Agon-san was wrong about people not giving me much respect just because they thought I was the manager.'

Of course Agon was ego-centric and was pretty much one of the few people on his team that was given a substantial amount of attention, it wasn't strange that he'd think something along those lines.

'Sometimes I wonder if Agon-san thinks that football is just a huge popularity contest, it wouldn't really surprise me if he did, although I really wish he would put some more effort into the game...' Sena blinked, startled out of his thoughts as he became aware that Monta's hand was waving in front of his face.

"Sena! One of the guys gave me the latest issue of Football Monthly, it's got the team roster in it!"

The brunette snapped to awareness. "Really? Do they have the team rankings and stuff?"

"Looks like it." Monta laid out the magazine in front of them, tapping at their little blurb of information lightly. "We scored an A in running, a C in passing and D in line and defense for an overall grade of C." He sighed dully. "They say we're one of the tournament's dark horses and that we're erratic."

"Well, the only regular game we won was the one against the Cupids. And some people might think that the final score we managed in the Aliens game was a stroke of dumb luck."

Monta fumed. "That wasn't luck! It was so obviously not luck! If it was luck you wouldn't have..." His voice lowered so that no one else could hear. "Fainted from sheer exhaustion afterwards and stayed out cold for nearly an hour."

"I know Monta, but it's probably hard to believe that a team can improve so fast over a short amount of time. That's why we've got to prove it wasn't luck by winning all our games from now on."

Monta grinned widely. "I like that idea. Time to prove our worth to the max!"

Sena nodded and skimmed over the other teams listed in the A Block, furrowing his eyebrows as he came across a team that sounded familiar.

'Poseidons, Poseidons, where have I heard that name before?' He glanced over the information. They scored a C in running, but in passing, line and defense they scored all Ds.

'The players all have slight builds, despite the team's name. They're hurting because every one of their bigger players is on the bench... Bigger players...'

The proverbial lightbulb went off.

'It's the team I spied on when Agon-san had to escort me! The one with the really tall first years! If they're on the bench all the time, does that mean they're not good enough to play in a game yet, or that they're the secret weapons for the fall tournament?' Sena furrowed his eyebrows, it had been a while ago since he had gone over to spy on them, and he hadn't even been able to finish it up because Agon's pestering.

'Well, Hiruma-san must have sent me to spy on them for a reason, so secret weapon it is.'

During the rest of the lunch break Sena carefully looked over the teams, not paying too much attention to the grades they'd been given since everyone had been given an entire summer to improve their game.

When school was finally over he and Monta headed over to the clubhouse, eager to open up the door, throw on their gear and start practicing.

But a split second after opening the door, Sena slammed it shut, denying that he'd seen what he thought he saw.

Then Suzuna roughly pulled open the door, angrily gripping her pom-poms. "Why'd you close the door?" She demanded.

"Uh, I was just surprised..." Sena somehow managed to get out.

"You were embarrassed, you shy boy." She proceeded to prod him, smiling slyly. "Aren't you glad you have cheerleaders?"

Monta coughed into his fist, a sagely expression on his face. "I'm telling you Suzuna..." He clenched his fist and determinedly looked skyward. "For the men, it's all about the competition! We try not to be swayed by squealing girls. But we appreciate your support." He added and Suzuna huffed.

"Really? That's hard to believe." She said with a frown before dashing into the clubroom.

"Suzuna! Wait, I'm manager! And this looks pretty silly on me."

Sena sweat-dropped and averted his eyes while Monta nearly died in front of them.

It was way too unnatural, seeing Mamori, his friend pretty much since birth and older sister figure, in such a small amount of clothing, even if she wasn't dressed in it willingly.

"I'll save this for the threat book." Hiruma stated calmly from where he had popped up with a video camera to record every second of Mamori's uncomfortable fidgeting in the cheerleader outfit.

Kurita smiled widely as they stepped into the clubhouse, Mamori quickly rushing into the change room and locking the door before anyone else could go it.

"It's really nice to have supporters." The lineman said joyously. "When the crowd's fired up, we get fired up!"

Suzuna nodded proudly before pointing at herself. "And I've been assigned captain of firing folks up. I may not go to Deimon, but since my brother passed the Devil Bats' test-"

"Taki-kun passed the entrance exam?!" Kurita exclaimed excitedly.

"That's great! When did it happen?" Sena questioned, his excitement wearing away as Suzuna stood speechless for a second before her expression grew dark.

"What?" She asked just as the person they'd been speaking of exuberantly entered the clubhouse.

"Hey, you're all here!" Taki said loudly and Sena dully wonderer if Taki had really thought they'd be anywhere else as Doburoku explained to Suzuna that the regulars would be decided for the fall season after a full team practice.

"A-ha-ha! I get it!" Taki stated, completely optimistic. "Since my success rate it one hundred percent I told Suzuna that I made the team in advance!"

Suzuna stood still for a moment, eyebrows twitching in irritation before she pounced.

"Tell me after you've made it!" She yelled, rolling along Taki's back like she had when she'd finally found him at the Armadillos' tryout. "That way I won't look stupid if you fail! And if you don't make the team I'll kill you! Hear me?!"

Sena and several others took a cautious step away from the angry female, surely, even if Taki hadn't really told the truth, he didn't deserve such harsh treatment from his litle sister right?

'Angry girls are scary.'


	75. Chapter 75

FASH: I'm trying to skim through the events of the next week so we can get right to the tournament, so there's not too much dialogue overall and this chapter's probably a bit boring, but at least we can get started on the fun stuff next chapter! Also, this chapter's a bit rushed because of all the homework I've been getting this week, so sorry if it's a bit jumbled up.

""-speech

''-thoughts

After what Sena was sure was the dullest day of his life he was finally allowed to lose himself in practice. He was so set on working up a good sweat after nearly four days of rest that he wasn't even aware of the time flowing by until it became dark enough that the lack of light added to the dimming qualities of his Eyeshield made it so he could hardly see across the field where Hiruma was barking out orders.

He moved over to the benches to grab a drink, curiously checking his cell phone for the time.

"What, it's already nine o'clock?" He questioned and Monta, who had followed him over, peered over his shoulder curiously.

"Looks that way, weird, I'm not really tired at all." The other brunette said before chugging down his bottle of water and Sena was left to stare at his phone incredulously.

'Much longer and, club activities or not, mom's going to be mad that I'm out so late.' Sena thought, although he had the distinct feeling that even if his mother became cross, he wouldn't be able to find it in himself to care all too much.

It wasn't too much longer afterwards that Hiruma had ordered them all to stop from where he sat on a bench on the sidelines, his smile devious and his eyes even more so as he snapped the book Doburoku had been recording everyone's improvement in shut.

"All right, it's time to announce the starting lineup. Everyone get to the clubhouse and get out of your gear."

Everyone was quick to follow the command, eager to hear who would be becoming a regular for the team. Suzuna seemed especially excited to hear if her brother would be making the team. But there was a slight glint to her eyes as they moved over her brother's form, like she was wishing him the best of luck and threatening him at the same time. Quite an interesting combination, Sena wondered how she was able to pull off such a look.

There was no need to worry for Taki's physical safety though, as he did end up making the team and only needed to have to worry about passing Deimon's entrance exam to be able to truly play with the Devil Bats.

All the regulars from before the summer were also chosen, but Sena supposed that was a given. What everyone was waiting for now was to see who would be chosen as the second receiver.

Sena held his breath and crossed his fingers, a bad feeling already spreading through him as his eyes flickered from Yukimitsu to Satake and Yamaoka.

'Hiruma-san is more concerned about winning then anything else...'

As he had somewhat suspected, the two from the basketball team would be alternating as the second receiver, much to the surprise of most of the people in the clubhouse.

Mamori looked about ready to bust a gasket as the decision was announce and as Hiruma left she stalked after him in a huff, acting on her personal feelings that Yukimitsu should be part of the team, especially after he tried so hard.

But Sena knew Hiruma wasn't the type to let personal feelings get in the way of any decision he'd ever make, there was no use trying to convince him otherwise.

Yukimitsu had slowly and silently exited the small building, but not silently enough that Sena didn't notice.

He immediately followed after him, and although he wasn't much for words of comfort, he wasn't going to let the older boy beat himself up for not becoming a regular.

He made a move to follow the older boy to the field, only to be stopped as Monta clasped a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't go over there Sena. No matter what you have to say, talking to him now is only going to make him feel worse." Monta said wisely. "When one of the teams that you support loses, you don't go up to them and say they played a good game even if they lost, you give them some space, right?"

Sena nodded mutely, throwing a concerned look over his shoulder. "But..."

"But nothing Sena, we can't just go up to him, but, if we can subtly put our message across..." Monta stroked at his chin and smiled before opening his mouth to shout.

"First game's against Amino High School!"

Sena didn't understand how this could be considered subtle, but he went along with it anyways. "Monta, if we beat Amino, then the tournament goes on for us!"

"Yeah Sena! As long as we keep winning, the fall season won't end until the day all the Devil Bats are together!"

"We're not gonna lose!" Sena stated firmly before the two of them began walking away, confident that their message, although obvious, was at least heard.

With the regulars chosen and nearly everything set for their first game against the Amino Cyborgs the rest of the week seemed to be going by in a fashion that made Sena truly believe that when you wanted time to go by faster, it decided to stop and annoy you.

Even with the after school practices that sadly seemed to go by too fast weren't enough to keep him from becoming almost childishly impatient for the tournament to start, but he tried to keep him immature feelings to himself, even if he was sure that Monta was just as excited to for the tournament to start as he was. But it wasn't as if he was going to throw a hissy fit and demand that Hiruma make the time go by faster.

He wasn't that childish anymore, after all.

By the time the seventh came and passed, leaving them with only three more days, seventy two more hours, until the start of the tournament, everyone had started to show their growing need for the eleventh to come.

Kuroki, Juumonji and Toganou had taken to commandeering people's desks during class to go through line formations, every once in a while instructing Sena what he was to do in case they moved into that position, just in case he had forgotten.

Then Monta and Komusubi had come into their class to comment on the effect every different type of block had on the offensive positions.

And Taki, well, Taki was just there, despite not even being an official Deimon student yet.

He couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for his homeroom teacher, who seemed to be trying very hard not to have a breakdown while all the ruckus was going on in his class. But on the bright side at least it was making school go by faster for him.

Going home late every night due to practice was clearly starting to grate on his mother's nerves, and he knew that the only reason she was letting him get away with it was because Mamori always called right when practice ended so that she would know Sena would be coming straight home.

Thank goodness for that, otherwise, seeing as he'd never stayed so late to practice before, she'd probably just think he was out goofing off with his friends.

Of course, even if he had an excuse for coming home late every night, that didn't stop his mother from pestering him about other things, such as his lack of studying.

Thankfully his father mostly stayed out of the talks his mother gave to him, and when he was goaded into speaking to Sena by his wife he'd told Sena quite the opposite of what Mihae would have wanted him to say.

His father wanted him to follow his aspirations through to the end.

And with one parent on his side, well, Sena felt more than ready to face the world, or the Cyborgs as it were.

The day before the tournament everyone had planned on meeting up and going to Tokyo Stadium and Sena could almost feel the adrenalin begin pumping through his veins.

'It's almost time, it's almost time, it's almost time...'

They had gathered at the clubhouse beforehand, only to discover that Kurita had gone AWOL. Everyone had begun to worry, especially when Mamori couldn't seem to get a hold of him no matter she did but eventually Hiruma had snapped at everyone to leave for the stadium, stating he'd take over finding and wrangling over the other second year. And if there was anyone who'd be able to find the suddenly reclusive Kurita, it would be the one who'd known him far longer than any of them.

The trip to the stadium had been silent; everyone worrying about Kurita in their own way, and knowing how sensitive the second year was it was hard to keep himself from calling up Hiruma to get a status report.

But the blonde came through as expected and showed up with a positively bright eyed, bushy tailed Kurita in tow, looking for all the world like a kid in a candy store.

"Here it is, Tokyo Stadium, just like it was when we saw it way back with Musashi." Kurita whispered in awe and Sena turned to look at the second year from the corner of his eye.

'We couldn't get Musashi-san to come back since we didn't win against the Aliens, but there's got to be another way that we can get him to play for the Devil Bats again…' He bit his lip and glanced at the Tokyo Stadium in all it's wonder. 'It's just not right for the original three Devil Bats to not be together, not when we're going to make it all the way to the end.'

He heard a soft cough coming from beside him and he turned to see Monta giving him an all-knowing look. And considering the amount of depth Monta had been prone to showing lately, Sena wouldn't be all too surprised if the other boy could read his mind.

"We'll make him come back, even if we have to drag him kicking and screaming." He said with a contagiously wide smile. "So stop worrying about Musashi-san right now because as far as I'm concerned, that cat is already in the bag."

Sena smiled in return and let the thoughts concerning Musashi slip away for the moment as he took another good look at the stadium in front of him.

'It's almost time for us to make it to the top.'

The night before the beginning of the tournament Sena laid in bed, not feeling any more tired as the minutes ticked by, far too excited about the coming day to calm down enough to rest.

Then his cell phone began to ring.

He contemplated just leaving it, thinking that it might just have been Mamori calling to triple check that he had everything organized for the next day, but he figured since he wasn't getting any closer to sleep anyways he may as well answer.

He reached over to his bedside table and grabbed his phone, flipping it open and bringing it to his ear lazily.

'Maybe one of the guy's is calling because they're too hyped up to sleep as well.'

"Hello?"

"It's about damn time, does it normally take you this long to answer your phone?"

Sena's eyes widened minutely, but he wasn't all too shocked when he heard Agon's voice on the other end.

It's not like this hadn't happened before.

"Gee Agon-san, you sure are chipper this fine evening." He remarked dryly. "You aren't calling because you found 'the perfect girl' for me are you, because I already told you I'm not interested."

"Hell no, I'm just calling to tell you not to get yourself killed tomorrow. The Amino guys are trash, but they're three times your size on average and you need to make sure your defense players are doing their damn job so that you don't get trapped."

Sena rolled his eyes dramatically, despite knowing full well that Agon wouldn't be able to see the action. "How touching, you actually figured out when the tournament starts so that you could call me up and tell me to be safe."

"Well I figure if I'm one of the few people who know who you are that aren't on your team I may as well remind you what sort of trouble you could get in if your teammates aren't watching your back." Agon's voice was dead serious as he spoke and Sena wondered if he was always this pessimistic when it came to him.

So he decided to ask.

Agon's stunned silence was enough to make him smile, although he tried not to vocalize his amusement.

"I'm not being pessimistic!"

"Sure you're not, your pessimism has nothing to do with your calling me late at night to make sure I take care of myself. Oh, and Agon-san, don't worry too much about me and do try not to lose any sleep over it."

"Screw off." Was the eloquent replied before Agon hung up and Sena stared at his phone in mild shock.

'Was he just being touchy, or should I apologize the next time I see him?' His eyebrows furrowed as he puzzled over the question. Agon wasn't usually so sensitive; hell, Agon and the word sensitive didn't belong in the same sentence as far as he knew.

'I guess I should take Agon-san's concern more seriously, considering how few people he bothers to be concerned about...' Sena set his phone back on his bedside table and curled into his blankets, mind abuzz with thoughts concerning Agon and his attitude.

'Weird. This situation is just weird.' Was his final thought before he was able to drift to sleep.


	76. Chapter 76

FASH: Sorry this is a bit late since, as anyone who's in college or university knows, this time of the year is pretty hectic and I've got a bunch of big projects I need to work on. Sorry!

""-speech

''-thoughts

As soon as Sena became mentally aware that it was morning he was up and rolling out of bed like an over enthusiastic child on Christmas, with the exception of running into his parent's room and shaking them awake.

He swiftly took a shower and prepared himself for the oncoming day, bewilderment over Agon's strange phone call sinking into the back of his mind as he got dressed and flew out the door in record time.

He made it to the team's designated meeting area, just outside the train station, right as Monta came bustling along, looking about as excited as Sena felt.

"Hey dude! I could hardly get to sleep last night because of all the excitement, what about you?" The other boy asked as he came to stand next to Sena.

"It took me a while to get to sleep too." 'Although there was another reason why I couldn't get my mind to stop brooding and put a sock in it so I could get some rest.' "I wonder if we'll ever get used to the pre-game excitement?"

Monta shook his head. "Nah, as long as we stay passionate about the game I think we'll always be like this."

"Really?" Sena's eyebrows rose as he thought of several passionate-for-football-people who didn't seem like they would ever loose sleep due to excitement for an oncoming game. But then again, they were a lot more mature than he was. "I suppose you're right. I wonder if anyone else is this hyped for the game."

"Well, you could always ask once they get here." Monta said, rubbing at his chin thoughtfully. "Juumonji's group seemed excited to kick some ass, but they don't seem the type to let excitement keep them up."

Sena nodded in understanding. "Yeah, they seem more like the type who'll just chill out to calm themselves down before a big game."

"Who're you talking about, fucking pipsqueaks?"

Sena and Monta both jumped at the sudden sound of Hiruma's voice before turning to look at the blonde and the group of people herded behind him.

"Oh, no one in particular." Sena said as smoothy as he could after the shock wore off. "Now what are we all waiting for? Let's get on that train!"

The train ride was graciously short and by the time the reached the stadium Sena could feel some of his excitement traitorously morphing into nervousness.

"There's nothing like the pre-game feeling." Ishimaru commented aloud, his voice almost disturbingly calm. "It's like your blood runs cold."

"Huh? I think I've heard that line before." Sena tapped at his forehead and Hiruma cocked an eyebrow at him.

"Good guys like saying it." He said through the bubble of gum he had recently blown and Sena nodded.

'And today that saying's true, my blood is running cold. If we lose even once it's over... This is kind of... Exhilarating...'

"What? Are you two scared already?" Suzuna chimed as she pounced, giving both Sena and Monta a firm pat on the back.

"I'm not scared, I'm ecstatic." Said replied, trying to keep the small amount of fear that was still lingering out of his voice.

"Y-yeah, what he said." Monta agreed with a slight tremor in his voice. Suzuna just gave them a cool look, clearly not believing them.

"If you say so..."

"R-r-right, e-everybody tried their best. As long as the Gods are watching over us..." Kurita nervously mumbled. "This morning I went and got a fortune from our temple." He unrolled the small slip of paper and the pitch of his voice increased. "It said 'extremely bad luck'."

Without batting an eyelash Hiruma had puled out a gun and shot the paper several times.

"Stop worrying about what a mere piece of paper says and let's get moving to the locker room." The blonde growled irritably and everyone was quick to follow the command.

After Sena successfully pulled off his Clark Kent-like transformation he went to turn his cell phone off for the opening ceremony as Yukimitsu had instructed as he read out a pamphlet.

"Then in the afternoon Deimon will move to field number two to play Amino." The second year finished, tilting is head curiously at the sound of determined footsteps striding down the hall.

Everyone turned to look at a group of people, all in white jackets, heading directly for them.

"What the-" Sena furrowed his eyebrows together.

"Is the hospital director on his rounds?" Yukimitsu questioned and Sena shrugged his shoulders, taking a cautious step back when the man at the head of the group didn't seem to be slowing down. A wise choice, because seconds later, with a rather strange sounding laugh, the thrust out his hand as if for a handshake, his eyes never bothering to look away from Kurita.

"I'm Munakata, of the Amino Cyborgs!" He exclaimed, taking Kurita's hand tightly in his own and giving it a firm shake. "Good luck in today's game!"

"Same to you..." Kurita responded kindly, as per usual, although his expression was a bit wary as Munakata stepped back and flashed him a strange smile before he, and all the other males behind them, began taking off their over-coats and shirts in what looked to be quick, practiced movement.

Sena took another cautious step back, his eyebrows furrowing together even more as he surveyed the sight before him.

"Heh. This isn't a body building championship." Hiruma said coolly, his demeanor completely unchanged by the display.

"Their muscles look totally artificial." Monta commented dryly, flinching slightly as Munakata turned to look at him.

"Hahaha! I'm glad they're artificial. At Amino there's no higher praise. The body is science. You could say that all of our muscles are artificially created."

Sena's attention was slowly drawn to a crunching sound on the other side of the room and he turned to see the players chomping down on a handful of pills from a jar labeled 'secret'.

"What are they taking?" His eyes trailed to the floor when he heard more of the crunching, eyes bulging when he saw Cerberus chowing down the pills only to almost instantaneously become larger and more muscled than before.

"Ack! What kind of pills are they?!" 'Are they even legal? You'd think if they're so secret they'd be more careful about not spilling an entire bottle on the floor!'

He turned again as he heard a clicking sound only to see the teem manager holding what appeared to be a needle of all things!

He sighed in relief when it turned out to only be a retractable pen. 'That was almost beyond crazy. What is up with this team?'

Munakata smiled widely and picked up a football tossing it back and forth between his hands effortlessly. "First it was basketball, then soccer. Next we'll devastate the world of football. And then Amino will be renowned for their sports medicine. Looks like Deimon doesn't even have a trainer."

Monta stepped forward, waving his finger in a condescending fashion, as though he were scolding a small child.

"Tsk. Tsk. Tsk." He clucked his tongue. "We've got one now! The renowned trainer Doburoku Sakaki!" He gestured to the man with a great amount of pride.

"Doburoku..." One of the Amino players murmured.

"That's right, from Sengoku University." Another player piped up. "He's one of the Swords of Japan."

Whisperes broke out amongst the Amino players, but if anything Munakata looked only mildly amused by the fuss going on around him.

"I don't know the details..." He began in an almost snooty tone of voice. "But when you were at Sengoku University, wasn't your unscientific training the downfall of you and your team? You pushed the other students with an antiquated Spartan regime. Do you intend to make the same mistake again?"

The room was silent for a moment before Sena stubbornly spoke up. "No. He didn't push us. We all want to win. We each decided to take part on our own. Besides, Spartan training suits us."

"Right!" Monta called, excitedly pumping a fist into the air.

"Hey you... Did you think we were at his beck and call?" Kuroki asked snidely.

Munakata just turned back to his teammates. "So that's Eyeshield." He said simply, causing both Kuroki and Monta to nearly explode into a fit of rage.

"Are you ignoring us!?"

Evidently he was as he stepped past them to stand in front of Sena, who hated how he had to tilt his head so far back to be able to look the the older boy in the eye.

"Your moves are completely transparent when we apply Amino's sports science." He said confidently. "Football combines scholarship and sportsmanship. Low academic achievers don't belong in it."

Sena could practically feel the heat of several glares being sent Munakata's way as he said that and he couldn't find it in himself to feel bad about it, at all.

"We'll show you it's a rational sport, not one you can win with grit and spirit." He said as his team began heading out and once they were out of hearing range the sources of the heated glares, Juumonji, Kuroki and Toganou, angrily huffed.

"We're gonna crush 'em!" They all exclaimed and Sena tried to stop the wry smile from spreading across his lips.

'Well, I guess we can count on these guys being really passionate about this game.' He threw a look over his shoulder just in time to catch a final glimpse of one of the white coats before it disappeared around a corner.

"Transparent, eh? That's what you think, but you don't know anything about the training we've done over the summer." Sena tapped at his chin thoughtfully. "Still, they seem to be so sure of themselves, so I guess I can sort of understand why Agon-san was worried about this game, since he doesn't know how much we've improved either. That still doesn't mean I know why he got so moody." Sena whispered to himself only to discover that, no matter how softly he said it, someone was always going to hear him talking to himself.

"Is the fucking dread getting sassy?" Hiruma asked with a great amount of humor and Sena wished, not for the first time, that Hiruma was an easier person to sense.

"Well, I wouldn't really say he's 'sassy'. Just moody for no apparent reason, that I can think of." The brunette tried to explain without giving out too much information.

"So basically, in some way or another, you brushed off his concern as nothing and now he's mad at you."

Sometimes it was really, really hard to believe that Hiruma hadn't bugged his phone.

"Well, yeah, but I'm a pretty independent person, I don't need Agon-san to worry about me."

Hiruma rolled his eyes before leaning in slightly and sending a glare over Sena's shoulder, assumably at people who were trying to listen in to their conversation.

"No matter how independent you are, you've still got tones of people who worry their ass off about you, and they don't even know you actually go out on the field. The fucking dreads knows you're a competent player, but he's known you since before football, when he probably thought of you as a sub-human life form like he thinks about the majority of the world."

"Well, yeah, but he should know by now that I can handle everything." Sena twiddled his thumbs and Hiruma lightly tapped his helmet.

"Face it kid, the only way you'll ever be able to convince him that you can 'handle everything' is if you beat the best of the best. And guess who he thinks is the best?" Hiruma grinned widely before turning away.

Sena sighed. 'Gee, I wonder who Agon-san, who is a complete egoist, thinks is the best... But still... Maybe I should apologize for not taking his concern seriously and hurting his feelings.' Sena bit his lip, for some reason the thought of Agon even being able to have his feelings hurt seemed incredibly unlike him.

But once again any thoughts concerning the dread-head were quarantined in the back of his mind as Hiruma began rounding them up and leading them to the field entrance.

As they streamed onto the field it was hard not to notice how many players all the other teams had in comparison to their own. It wasn't a frightening thing to notice per se, but Sena couldn't help but find it hard to believe that a team would need that many players.

'I must be way too used to just having one group of people playing offense and defense.'

After the opening ceremony and being practically saved from a group of reporters by none other than Taki and his flamboyant need for attention Sena was pretty sure that sticking around the older boy was a good idea.

He was so very, very wrong.

After changing out of his uniform he raced outside with Taki right behind him, desperately looking around for any sign of his other teammates on the busses. When Taki had jumped onto he bus he had been standing beside it hadn't registered in Sena's mind that Taki had found the bus a little too quickly and he hadn't thought anything of it when he walked onto the vehicle and didn't see any of his teammates.

And now they were headed for Nagano.

"_Impossible!_"


	77. Chapter 77

FASH: Alright, who else has heard/read what just happened in the most recent chapter of Eyeshield? Holy hell this fanfic is going to go on forever at this rate. But on the bright side, the most epic team of all is about to be formed! Now sit back and humor me by reading this fanfic's theme song! You all know the tune:

This is the fanfic that never ends, yes it goes on and on my friends, some people started reading it not knowing what it was, and they'll continue reading it forever just because....

""-speech

''-thoughts

In the oncoming panic that followed the realization that Taki had most definitely chosen the wrong bus it hadn't occurred to Sena that he should turn on his cell phone in case his teammates tried calling him, and he was most assuredly paying the price for it now.

In the time it had taken them to realize that they were on the wrong bus, only because the tour guide had announced where the bus was going, added with the time it took for the driver to pull over and let them off they were already halfway to the middle of nowhere, and it was only then that Sena thought it would be a good idea to turn his phone back on and call Hiruma.

As soon as he heard the first whisper of Hiruma's breath as he sucked in air to scream into the mouthpiece Sena was already stuttering apologies, nearly hysterical.

"I'm sorry! I'm really, really sorry! I didn't know it wasn't the right bus!"

This wasn't how this day was supposed to go! He had to be there with the team, he had to show Shin how much he had improved, he had to prove to Amino that his moves weren't transparent, he had to-

"Take a deep breath, fucking shrimp, now tell me where you are." Hiruma ordered and Sena sadly mumbled his and Taki's current location, keeping quiet when he heard shuffling and the faded bark of a command on Hiruma's end.

"I sent the Zokugaku punks to come get you."

"Z-Zokugaku?" Sena murmured and he could almost hear Hiruma roll his eyes.

"That fucking pervert who you went to school with isn't going to be with them, so don't have a panic attack over nothing." The blonde said coolly before hanging up and Sena flipped his phone shut with a sigh.

'This isn't how today was supposed to go.' He thought sullenly as he dutifully changed into his uniform, Taki having already done so while Sena was on the phone.

"Taki-san, you don't have to try and hitch-hike anymore, Hiruma-san is sending some people to pick us up."

"A-ha-ha! But I'm one hundred and fifty percent sure that the next person that passes will give us a ride." Taki said flicking a hand through his hair in what Sena supposed was meant to be an alluring fashion.

"Well, that's quite... Nice, but don't go using up all our charm trying to get a ride we don't really need, I'm sure you'll need some when we get the the stadium." Sena's voice rose a little in pitch, as through he were asking a question but thankfully Taki didn't seem to notice his uncertainty over his choice of words and instead smiled widely in agreement.

"That is indeed a wonderful idea." Taki said in the sort of voice that made Sena think that if a hand-held mirror were available he'd immediately whip it out and stare at his reflection.

The brunette pursed his lips and in an effort to erase the strange mental image he'd just experienced he flipped open his phone to check the time.

The game against Amino would be starting in two minutes.

'Please get here soon Habashira-san, please...' It wasn't that he didn't trust his teammates, he new they were more than capable of doing offensive maneuvers without him, and Juumonji, Kuroki and Toganou had been so riled up by Munakata's opinion that he was certain come hell or high water they wouldn't let Amino's line show them up without a fight. He just wanted to be there too, wanted to know the thrill of stepping onto the field once more and running until he could hardly feel his legs.

'Please hurry.'

Waiting was absolute torture, but thankfully Rui put his misery to an end by arriving in a flurry of rumbling engines before Sena had the chance to start becoming pessimistic and hyperventilating. He was on the back of Rui's bike and wrapping his arms around the older boy's torso in the blink of an eye, trying to ignore how awkward it felt.

Sure Rui probably wouldn't hurt him, but that didn't mean he seemed any less dangerous.

"Damn, train much?" Rui asked rhetorically before revving his engine.

"Hold on tight shrimp, I don't want to get shot at just because you decided to loosen your grip."

Sena opened his mouth to protest that he wouldn't do something like that, but found that all he could do was exhale sharply as they began moving.

Rui was definitely going way over the speed limit.

Sena threw a look over his shoulder to see that Taki and the other bikers that had come with Rui were easily keeping up with the pace, something that he was sure constituted as a hazard in case Rui had to swerve for some reason.

He briefly entertained the thought of asking Rui to slow down, but he really doubted that the other boy would take his concerns to heart and speeding was probably the only way they were going to get to the stadium before the game ended. So instead he opted to say something that he figured wouldn't get him kicked off the bike.

"Sorry to make you come all this way. Thank you." He began timidly, gaining a bit more confidence when Rui didn't do any crazy maneuvers that would fling him off the moving motorcycle.

"But this must be tough for you before the Zokugaku game. I know how Hiruma-san can be but... Isn't this a lot to ask, even if you're his slave?"

"What?! I'm no slave!" Rui stated sharply as he turned to give Sena a dark glare before, thankfully, turning his eyes back on the road.

"Hiruma let us go before summer vacation so that we could train for the fall season. He's number one on my to kill list, the weirdo! It's like the only thing he honors is football."

"Really? Then why did you come get me on your bike?"

"So I could kill you!"

Sena flinched back, his eyes widening at the admittance. "What?!"

"In the game." Sena breathed a silent sigh of relief. "It would suck if you were eliminated before you played for something stupid like being late!"

Sena was silent for a moment, he'd never really thought that Rui was capable of being so nice to someone who he didn't even know well, let alone know the true identity of.

He opened his mouth, intent on giving the most sincere thank you he had ever given, but Rui interrupted him.

"Damn! It's the Seitan Line railroad crossing. It's already closed." He revved his engine, the sound not loud enough to drown out the noise of the oncoming train.

"Hang on tight!" Was Sena's only warning before Rui sped across the tracks, his teammates following him seemingly without fear that they would die a really messy death if they happened to be just a little too slow.

It as just a little afterwards that Sena heard the shrill sounds of sirens getting closer, accompanied by the sound of an older man's voice.

"You, on the motorcycles without any helmets, pull over!"

The brunette threw a worried look over his shoulder, the police car was starting to gain on them.

"Habashira-san-"

"Ha, as if I'd let them catch me!" Rui abruptly turned on a side street, making his way through little neighborhoods before turning back onto the main road and weaving through cars expertly.

Sena cautiously looked back, the police car was no longer in sight, but neither were Rui's teammates.

'I'm sure they got away, they probably just lost track of us while we we on all those side streets. And with all this traffic we must be getting closer to the stadium now, and I'm sure everyone on the team is doing a wonderful job and-'

Sena's train of thought abruptly changed directions as Rui did a sudden turn that Sena hadn't been ready for, causing his legs to fly up in the air and flail for few seconds before he managed to bring them back down.

Rui scoffed at Sena's vocal reaction to the surprise, something that sounded more like a shriek than a scream.

"Ha! Which would you prefer, not making it to the game on time or dying?"

"What?! Are those my choices?!" Sena asked loudly, not finding the question to be amusing at all.

'I appreciate what he's doing and everything, but I don't think I ever want to ride on a motorcycle again. Way too many ways that accidents can occur.'

He brightened up when the stadium entered his line of sight, although his good mood slowly started to fade away when he realized that Rui wasn't slowly down at all, not even as they entered the parking lot or started going through the entryway to the field.

"Habashira-san, shouldn't you slow down?!"

"What, don't you want to make a grand entrance or something?"

"No! A normal entrance is fine, really!"

"If you say so..."

Rui had already reached the sidelines when he abruptly hit the brakes and turned, causing Sena to sail into the sky precariously before beginning his decent to the ground.

'I should really learn to hold on tighter!'

He tried to land as painlessly as he could, silently thanking the powers that be that his padding worked in protecting his body from this unforeseen occurrence.

Then he was surrounded by noise.

He quickly moved to stand up and look around in shock, everyone in the stands seemed to be cheering at his entrance.

"Eyeshield takes it up a notch!" One of the announcers stated over the speakers and out of reflex Sena nervously brought one hand up to the back of his head and began bowing repeatedly. "I'm sorry I'm late." Rolling off his tongue like a mantra.

"Woah, that was an awesome entrance!" He could hear Monta exclaim and he looked up with a large smile on his face.

The smile quickly vanished when he saw the glares being sent his way.

"You're late you jerk!" Kuroki exclaimed hotly as he, Toganou, Juumonji, Monta and, for some reason, Suzuna descended upon him, apparently set on making him repent for his actions at least one more time.

"You little jerk, it's been a nightmare!" Toganou added in and Sena sent a worried look over to the scoreboard.

"But it's eight to eight, I knew you guys could handle them, and it really isn't my fault I'm late..."

"Yeah, that's right, we totally handled them when you were gone, just fine, yep, um-hm." Monta said as he crossed his arms, for some reason he seemed to be looking everywhere but Sena, as was the rest of the team.

'Strange, I wonder why they're acting like this?'

"Hey, is my brother here yet?" Suzuna asked curiously and Sena shrugged his shoulders.

"Habashira-san gave only me a ride, Taki-san is with some other guys. Uh..." Sena turned back around, repeating his bow once more at Rui who was still perched atop his motorcycle.

"I made it thanks to you."

"Ha! If you've got time to thank me you'd better go crush that rookie linebacker Munakata! It's the elite team from Amino that takes over a different sport each year, we can't let them get away with it this time!"

Sena stooped down to tighten the laces on his cleats. "Agreed." He said firmly, Monta exuberantly shouting 'yeah' behind him.

"Alright you damn luks, let's huddle up." Hiruma called impatiently as he walked towards the group, smirking when the circle was formed. "Alright guys, they'll be coming to crush Eyeshield."

"What, you mean right away?" Sena asked.

"Sounds like fun doesn't it? We'll have an ace showdown. Knock the hell out of that Fucking Grease-Face. Victory will be decided with a single blow, man to man."

"Then our job is to clear the way to victory." Juumonji piped up and Hiruma's grin widened as he pulled a card out of thin air.

"Heh, you're starting to get it." He turned the card around to reveal a familiar drawing of a ghoul-ish figure on a broom. "It's time for a full team rush, tactical name: sweep!"

Everyone nodded before moving into position as Kurita began to excitedly talk to himself.

"The Death March made all of us more powerful. So our sweep should be stronger too!"

"He said 'sweep'." "Think they're gonna sweep?" "Yeah." Was the immediate response from Amino's side and Kurita looked absolutely mortified.

"Doesn't matter if they know, we'll do it anyway. We'll force our way through with all our strength. If you think you can stop us knowing that, go ahead and try!" Hiruma directed at the other team who seemed completely unfazed.

Sena widened his stance and took a deep breath. 'This is my first play of the season, I've got to succeed so that Shin-san can see how much I've improved.' His eyes roamed over the stands, as if he'd be able to lock in on Shin's location despite the sea of people surrounding him. His eyes were brought back to the field as Juumonji began to speak.

"We'll block them for at least a moment, so you've got to get through. You won't have to do anything crazy like squeeze through the gap. We're gonna make sure to cut a wide path for you to plow through."

Sena smiled widely. "I know you will."

And then everyone went into action.


	78. Chapter 78

FASH: I started reading Pride and Prejudice, I love romantic drama, of course I've probably got enough romantic drama building up in here, what with the love do-decahedron (It's so complicated it can be three dimensional!) that's forming, to last me a while.

""-speech

''-thoughts

Sena dashed to Hiruma's side, taking the ball from him with a practiced ease before moving forward to where the linemen were waging their war, not able to stop his invigorated smile from growing when he saw the space Juumonji had promised the linemen would clear for him.

He'd never had so much room to run through before.

'All the linemen improved so much over the summer.' He felt an unfamiliar emotion swelling within him before his attention was directed to Munakata, who was coming straight at him.

'And it's time to show that I've improved as well. For 2,000 km I've practiced braking without losing speed.' He began going though the familiar motions of shortening his stride and beginning to zig-zag, heading straight for Munakata as if they were playing a game of Chicken.

And then, he swerved past the large player with a cross-over step, and in what seemed like too short a time he was already in the end zone, scoring his first touchdown of the season.

And just like that time began moving faster. Each new play seemed to take a fraction of what time it actually took up. And with each new touchdown, each new victory for the linemen, Sena felt the feeling in his chest growing stronger. And then, in a blink of an eye, the game was over and from Deimon's side of the stands a bunch of streamers were thrown while Hiruma excitedly let loose a torrent of bullets into the sky.

Everyone began making their way to the change room in a great mood, in no hurry to let the thrill of victory wear off any time soon. They had just made it off the field when someone called Kurita's name and Sena curiously turned to see the owner of the voice.

His eyes widened in surprise when he saw who it was, Takami had told him a lot of amazing things about Onihei of the Hashiratani Deer. How did he and Kurita know each other?

Onihei said something that Sena didn't quite catch, but the next thing he knew some crazy guy that Sena half-recognized wrapped up in a bunch of chains was jumping down the stands in a fit of rage.

Everyone tensed, their shock soon turning to awe when they saw how efficiently Onihei was able to handle the surprise attack before casually dusting himself off.

"What was that all about? This guy's got spirit!" He commented lightly and from his place on the ground Ikari of the White Knights growled menacingly.

"If I wasn't chained up-"

"Sorry about that Onihei, Ikari has a hard time controlling his emotions." Takami said as he rushed forward and Onihei held up a hand.

"It's alright, boys will be boys after all." He responded, the utterance of the phrase making himself seem a lot older than he actually was.

"Onihei's been a celebrity since we were in junior high!" Kurita chirped happy. "We played him once as the Mao Devil Bats. He beat us every time with technique alone. He was really good."

"He's been a lineman since elementary school." Hiruma added. "He's the top veteran mega-tactician."

"And his team is in the same block as us." Yukimitsu said from where he was looking at a pamphlet and Sena curiously made his way over to the second year's side.

"So you mean, in order to face Oujou in the finals, we've got to face Onihei's team too?" Monta asked and Yukimistu nodded, lowering the pamphlet a little so that Sena could get a better look at it.

'The Deer are going to be going up against Poseidon before they get to us.' Sena pursed his lips together in thought. 'You've always got to expect the unexpected, who's to say that Kyoshin won't win. I don't really know anything about them other than what a couple of their players look like, but Hiruma-san wouldn't have sent me to spy on them for no reason. Either way, we've still got to keep on winning.'

He brought his eyes away from the paper and regard his team with a smile. 'We can handle it.'

The finally made it to the changing room and after a bit of horsing around everyone began to change out of their unifoms. Once Sena deemed it safe to remove his helmet, since the few people who were still oblivious to his identity had already changed and left the room, he found himself the victim of several surprise noogies and claims of: "If you're ever late again I'll kick your ass."

Normally he probably would have been able to realize he was being snuck up on, but he fund himself distracted as he tried to categorize the emotion that had yet to go away.

"Pick up the pace fucking shrimp, I can only stand you being late so many times in a day." Hiruma warned once he and the other had finished changing while Sena still had most of his protective equipment on.

"You guys go ahead, I'll be right out." He willed himself to move a bit faster as his thoughts drifted elsewhere.

'This feeling intensified every time someone did something substantial during the course of the game, so this emotion is...' He pulled on his shirt and paused for a moment.

'Pride.' His mind finally supplied the name of the feeling. He was proud of his teammates for improving so much, he was proud of himself for doing so well against Amino. The emotion felt crisp, almost sweet as it coursed through him and he nearly felt himself begin to revel in the feeling before he quickly stopped himself and shook the feeling off.

It couldn't be good to indulge in an emotion that was one of the seven deadly sins, not to mention he knew too many people with too much pride to make him think anything good about the feeling. And some of the people he respected above all others seemed quite pride-less.

He'd only just begun to move out of the change rooms to catch up with everyone else, but he found his path blocked off by a familiar body.

'Speak of the devil...' "Hi Shin-san, did you enjoy today's game?" The brunette asked, his cheeks colouring slightly as the older boy nodded in affirmation.

"I'm glad you did, we all worked really hard over the summer. You wouldn't believe some of the stuff we did..." He looked Shin over for a moment before smiling crookedly. "Or maybe you would."

"That new move of yours must have taken nearly the whole summer to perfect." Shin commented, widening his stance without thinking much of it, as if he were getting ready to lunge at Sena in case the younger boy tried getting past him.

"Yeah, but I'm sure you've become an even more wonderful player too, I can't wait to see Oujou's first game of the season." Sena chirped happily.

"Yes, it would be good for the Deimon players to see all how other team's have improved as well." He said in a reserved fashion, ignoring Sena's direct praise in favor of bringing up the improvement of everyone.

There was something about taking to Shin when they were alone that Sena hadn't realized he had missed until now, the guarded conversation they'd had last week didn't really count, and Sena wondered how he didn't notice how nice it was before.

It wasn't just the mutual respect they had for each other, or because Shin was humble and didn't let what everyone said about him change his opinions of himself. Sena wasn't even sure if it was because Shin had been one of the first football players he had truly admired.

Maybe it was because of his personality, he seemed so unshakable that Sena couldn't help but feel drawn to him.

'If I was an outsider looking in on my thoughts, these would seem very first crush-y.' Sena thought without venom, although he cheeks did turn a little pink at the thought.

Then he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. Someone was watching them.

"Well Shin-san, it's been wonderful talking to you, but if I don't get going my teammates are going to wonder where I've run off to and I can't have them worry."

Shin looked almost ready to disagree, but he stepped aside anyways and let Sena through. "That new move, what is it's name?"

Sena turned to him and smiled before answering. "The Devil Bat Ghost."

He had just made it down the hallway when he was pulled aside by someone who he hadn't been expecting.

Of course, he probably shouldn't have expected Hiruma since the blonde never appeared on his mental radar systems. Instead it was Suzuna, giving him an overall strange look that Sena couldn't quite place.

"What was going on back there with that big guy, why were you blushing?" She asked him, eyebrows drawing together in confusion. "I thought you and Yo-nii had a thing going on."

Sena sputtered for a moment before demanding to know how she'd come to that conclusion.

"Well, I saw you two sneaking off around the same time a couple times during the Death March, I thought you two were trying to have some not-suspicious midnight rendezvous or something. It made sense to me."

"Well that's not what was going on, we probably just had to talk about Eyeshield stuff somewhere where Mamori-neechan couldn't hear."

And there was that one time when Sena had bandaged up Hiruma's knee, but Suzuna didn't need to know about that.

"Oh, okay." Suzuna appeared to be digesting the information and Sena took the opportunity to begin walking towards and exit, Suzuna quickly following behind him.

"Sooo then." She began in a conversation tone. "Do you have a crush on that big guy or something?"

Sena had half expected the question, and he probably was even more prepared for it because of Monta's admittance that, if he didn't know about his rivalry with Shin, he would probably think that Sena had a bit of a crush on him.

"What makes you come to that conclusion?" He asked back without skipping a beat, figuring it would be nice to get someone else's opinion.

"Well, blushing aside, you were looking at him with a lot of focus. Mamo-nee sent me back to get you and I was staring at you for a while before you seemed to realize you were being watched. You've just got 'puppy-love' written all over you." She said the last part gleefully before coughing into her fist discreetly and calming down.

"So, you don't have a thing going on with Yo-nii or the big guy-"

"Shin-san, that's his name."

"Alright, you don't have a thing with Shin-san either, so, why weren't you insulted at all when I asked? I mean, I can get carried away sometimes. But you didn't seem to take offense to any of my questions, you were just a bit surprised."

"Well, because even I think some of the things I do or say can be taken the wrong way." He admitted, picking up his pace as they made it to the stands and the other Devil Bats came in sight.

Hiruma turned to him with a raised eyebrow and, without even bothering to ask what took so long, pointed to the field. "You missed you're favorite comb fanatic's winning kick."

Sena turned to stare at the field where Kotarou was still standing before looking at the scoreboard. Three to zero, an incredibly close call.

His eyes started moving to the sidelines to search out Juri and Akaba, but his attention was quickly drawn back to his teammates as they began walking away.

'Only thirty two more teams left in this tournament. The Bando Spiders have got to winning, at least until Akaba-san can play again. Good luck Kotarou-san.'

"Alright, time to party! Let's celebrate!" Monta suddenly exclaimed from beside him.

"But we only won the first round." Sena protested, they had won the first round of the spring tournament too, but they'd still been pulverized by Oujou in their second game of the season.

"Don't worry about the details, a win is a win, thus it needs to be celebrated!" Monta replied dramatically.

"Monkey-boy has a point, I could go for some party time." Kuroki agreed, smirking widely when Monta began raving about his humanity.

"Well, I guess a little celebration couldn't hurt." Sena began slowly.

After all, they'd creamed Amino, a team that was so certain that they would win that they didn't seem to mind pointing out the apparent flaws in Deimon's training methods, or telling them that their lack of scholastic achievement made them weaker.

So they deserved a little celebration, right?


	79. Chapter 79

FASH: Alright, there's a bit of Kakei in this chapter, because I've missed him and he needs more love.

""-speech

''-thoughts

After securing everyone's agreement that, indeed, a celebratory party was in order Monta had immediately volunteered himself and Sena on snack duty. Deciding not to bother changing out of their Devil Bats t-shirts and into their normal clothes they immediately left for the nearest convenience store, Suzuna following after them incase they tried to buy more than they could carry.

"Because boys are silly like that." She'd said in her defense when Monta had demanded to know why she thought they'd overestimate their own strength, and Monta couldn't seem to come up with a proper counter to convince her otherwise.

Once they entered the store Suzuna and Monta wandered off towards the snack section while Sena was left to procure some drinks by his lonesome. After grabbing a couple bottles he spied a bottle of Mamori's favorite juice and, figuring she'd rather drink that than 'sugar water' he made a grab for it.

And couldn't reach it.

It was on the top shelf and normally it wouldn't have been a problem except that the bottle was near the back and he didn't have the arm span to reach it.

'Well damn.'

He went up on the balls of his feet for a couple more inches of height, but his fingertips only just brushed the bottle.

'Well, if no one's looking...' He cast a quick glance around before cautiously lifting his foot to the bottom shelf.

"Can I help you with something?"

Sena flinched back and tried not to look too guilty as he turned to face the speaker. 'How can such a tall guy be so quiet? It goes against the laws of nature or something.'

"Uh..." He began ever so eloquently and Kakei rose an eyebrow at him. "I can't reach the juice."

Kakei moved to stand beside him and easily reached up and grabbed the notorious juice before turning back to Sena, one eyebrow still quirked in a curious fashion.

"Do I know you from somewhere?" He asked as he handed the bottle over to Sena who quickly shook his head.

"Oh, I don't think so, I'm pretty sure we've never met before. Thanks for getting the juice for me."

They'd never been properly introduced in any case, so it wasn't really a lie. And Sena was pretty sure that he'd never want to leave his room again if Kakei recognized him from the time when Sena was sent to spy on his team.

Kakei opened his mouth to insist that Sena looked far too familiar for them to have not met before, but he was distracted from the task at hand when Mizumachi's voice loudly called his name from the next isle over.

Kakei turned in the direction of the voice and with a little more volume control calmly requested that Mizumachi use his indoor voice.

When he turned back, Sena was already out of sight, leaving Kakei more curious then he had been before.

'The Devil Bats, huh? That team sounds familiar as well.' His eyebrows furrowed together for a moment in thought before realization spread across his face. 'I saw him at Enoshima Field, and he sat beside me during a Bando game before that.' Kakei pursed his lips together. 'I wonder if he forgot me over the summer?'

Sena had rounded up Suzuna and Monta and was quick to lead them to the check-out, extremely thankful that neither of them decided to question why he was in such a hurry to leave. They made their way back to the clubhouse in relative silence, Sena calming down a bit more now that he was fairly certain he wouldn't be running into Kakei again any time in the near future.

Maybe next week, but he'd be more prepared for it then.

Suzuna had began skating ahead once they arrived on the school's property, ecstatic about getting the party started and Monta slung an arm around Sena's shoulders once she was out of sight.

"So..." He began before giving Sena a curious look.

"So?" Sena echoed in confusion, his eyebrows furrowing together as he wondered what Monta was getting at.

"We beat Amino, you did great, the rest of us did great, we totally destroyed them! But really, you don't seem to excited about it."

"I am excited about it! But, this is just the first wrung of the ladder, the first step towards our ultimate goal, I've got to stay focussed and-"

"Woah Sena, we won, we've got another week until the next game, you can re-gain your focus tomorrow, but for now you've got to stop thinking about the future and live in the now! Come on! We creamed Amino! Say it with me!" He demanded, the excitement rolling off of him in contagious waves that Sena couldn't ignore.

"We creamed Amino!" They shouted together, Monta jubilantly leaping into the air this time around before pumping a fist into the air.

"And now was should go and find Musashi-san!" Monta continued and Sena sobered up slightly.

"Huh?"

"He promised he'd come back if we got better. He's got the face of a man who keeps his word."

"What's his face got to do with anything?" Sena asked in confusion before another thought sprung into his mind. "Wait! If we walk into the clubhouse while we're talking about this and Hiruma-san's there, he'll get mad and tell us to forget it, won't he?" Sena asked, lowing his voice just in case Hiruma was already within hearing range somehow.

"You're right, it's too risky." Monta whispered in response.

"Who are you bringing back?!" A loud voice called from an undistinguishable place, until the sound some sort of firearm took place right below them and the force of it made the manhole they'd been standing on bust upwards, causing them to recoil.

"Did I just hear a plan that crooked enough for me? Or am I crazy?" Hiruma asked after he climbed into the sunlight, pointing two hand guns in the younger boy's direction.

"No, no, it was nothing!" Monta claimed as he waved his hand dismissively.

"Where did you come from?" Sena questioned, sending a cautious look at the hole in the ground that Hiruma had sprung out of, his eyes widening when he saw Musashi climb out of it with a toolbox.

Hiruma laughed at Sena's expression. "We got an extension for beating Amino. An underground arsenal!"

Both Sena and Monta had looks of disbelief on their faces.

'You can't build a basement that fast.'

'He must have been digging since last year.'

Musashi had began steadily walking away during Hiruma's explanation and Monta, having caught the movement out of the corner of his eye, quickly sped to the older boy's side, grinning up at him widely while Musashi looked as indifferent as usual.

Sena had the distinct feeling that this wouldn't end in their favor.

"Hey, Musashi-san." Monta snapped his fingers and pointed at him dramatically. "You promised!" He called, not bothering to go over what Musashi had promised since Hiruma was still lurking about that there was a chance the blonde would be pissed at them for interfering.

"You think you're a better team just 'cause you beat Amino?" Musashi asked in a low, steady voice, his eyebrows furrowing together in mild irritation. "Don't get ahead of yourselves." He reprimanded before turning around. "Hang on tight, 'cause the tournament's only just begun."

Sena and Monta stared after him for a few moments before and Monta cursed under his breath as Hiruma chuckled from somewhere before them.

"He's right you know." The blonde said with ease and Monta scoffed.

"Well, I guess we'll have to take down a better known team for him to come back, eh? Maybe by the time we go up against the Deers he'll be wiling to admit we've improved." Monta grinned impishly. "We're going to show him a thing or two, right Sena? So that he can't argue with us, we'll take the tournament by a land-slide!"

"In that case," Hiruma began calmly. "Musashi isn't our problem, it's that idiot."

"What... Idiot?" Sena questioned in confusion.

"Do you mean Taki?" Monta asked, rubbing his chin in a contemplation which was abruptly interrupted when Suzuna poked her head out of the clubhouse door and demanded that they come inside before she came outside to drag them in by their ears.

Sena and Monta made their way to the clubhouse without any fuss, both of them raising at their eyebrows at the sight that greeted them once they entered the main room.

Taki was sitting by a table that was covered in apples, munching on one with tears running down his cheeks dramatically.

"My debut game... Apples... From Nagano." He muttered softly as he slumped over.

"He says he got them from the ladies." Suzuna remarked dryly, sending a bland look in Monta's direction when he twitched and clenched a fist, lowly muttering: "The ladies?"

"I don't know what you're thinking, but I can assure you that no girl acts like how you seem to think they do."

Taki finished the apple and slumped against the table completely, his head making a rather painfully sounding 'thunk' as it hit the wood.

"He seems unusually depressed." Sena remarked after wincing at the sound of the collision and Suzuna sighed.

"I think it's just that he's always dreamed of his football debut and now he missed it because he got on the wrong train, right after getting on the wrong bus." She rolled her eyes a bit at this, but she wasn't speaking in the same way she normally did when her brother irritated her, so Sena guessed that she didn't mean to sound condescending when she pointed out Taki's 'fatal mistakes.'

"Fucking Chin-fuzz! You couldn't have played in the Amino game anyway!" Hiruma called harshly as he strode through the door. "You aren't even a Deimon student yet."

"The midseason entrance exam is this weekend." Kurita added perkily from behind Hiruma.

Taki's eyes snapped open, and for a moment he looked genuinely confused.

"Oh, so then... My first game has always been against the Yuuhi Guts?" He blinked very slowly before throwing himself out of his chair and striking another one of his strange, almost humanly impossible poses.

"A-ha-ha! So I am the luckiest guy after all!" He remarked loudly and Sena gaped at the instant emotional transformation he'd just witnessed.

"He's back to normal." He said with as much shock as wonder.

"Yeah, that sure was fast." Kuroki remarked dryly from where he had been standing. "Any more mood swings like that and I'm going to wonder if he's mentally stab- OW!"

Suzuna calmly pulled back her elbow after giving Kuroki a harsh jab in the side, throwing him a look that clearly dared him to try and finish what he'd been saying.

Kuroki wisely didn't try to finish what he had started, probably because he'd seen Suzuna lose her temper on her brother too many times .

Everyone settled down when Hiruma walked towards the strategy table purposefully.

"Now that we've beaten Amino, we won't be treated like a sideshow. The other teams will be scrutinizing the game video. They know who our passing target is now." He pointed one long finger at Monta. If they crush you with a tag-team defense, it's over." He then turned to Taki, a wide grin on his face as he held up the mini number 37 he'd just had made.

"So, fucking chin-fuzz, by putting you in we double our offensive passing power. If you don't pass the entrance exam, I'll shoot you dead."

"A-ha-ha! I have a one hundred and fifty percent pass rate!" Taki claimed loudly and everyone in the room blanched.

'I wonder if our 'we beat Amino so let's celebrate' party is going to turn into a 'let's help Taki-san study so he's not murdered' party.' Sena wondered as he pursed his lips together.

Mamori and Yukimitsu were already dragging Taki aside, both of them wearing the same look of concern while they plotted out the best course of action to take during Taki's crash course of every subject.

If there was one good thing about Taki's glaringly evident over-confidence it was that he at least always seemed ready for anything, so if he was able to retain a decent amount of information at least he wouldn't freeze up and forget everything during the exam.

Now all they had to do was hope he'd be able to retain all the information Mamori and Yukimitsu were going to try and drill into his head.

The pair wasted no time in making arrangements and in no time were dragging Taki off to an empty classroom, Suzuna following behind them with a determined look on her face.

"Do you suppose Taki-san will be okay?" Sena asked as he watched the group leave and Monta shrugged.

"We can check up on them in a while, after the proper amount of celebration has occurred, but for now let's party!"

Apparently the proper amount of celebration to Monta was hardly ten minutes before he started getting worried, not about Taki's progress, but about Mamori.

"We've got to go make sure Mamori-san isn't taken advantage of! She's so nice, she probably would try and help Taki with anything, and Taki would be too dense to realize that what he's asking could be taken the wrong way or something!"

"But Yuki-san and Suzuna are there too, and I really doubt Taki-san is capable of taking advantage of anybody, he's a nice guy." Sena protested as followed Monta out of the clubhouse towards the main school building, realizing resistance was futile once Monta had ninja-ed his way over to a window and was staring into the classroom like a man possessed.

"Damn that smooth operator! I can't let him get Mamori-san."

"You don't have to spy on them you know. We can just go in and ask if they need us to help with anything." Sena informed him and Monta tore himself away from the window.

"You're right. Onward to help Mamori-san stay out of Taki's clutches!"

"If you say so."


	80. Chapter 80

FASH: Woah, the new chapters of Eyeshield just keep giving me more and more plot bunnies, even though I'm not going to reach that point in the story for a long time yet. I guess over Christmas I'll be writing a bunch of stuff like mad. "Sena-sempai! Sena-sempai!" "Back off, we saw him first!"

""-speech

''-thoughts

Taki, as strangely as it turned out to be was, in some bazaar way, a genius. He wasn't the brightest crayon in the box by any means, but to be able to show so much progress simply by having all the questions asked interest him was sheerly amazing.

'Yuki-san is such a God-sent for figuring that out.' Sena cast a thankful look in the older boy's direction, a small smile spreading across his face as he watched Mamori and Yukimitsu work in perfect harmony to get Taki ready for the exam.

'Yuki-san and Mamori-neechan would be good together.' He decided easily, wondering if anyone else noticed their compatibility.

Suzuna was too busy basking in the knowledge that her brother wasn't a complete idiot, and Monta was too busy trying to show off his own knowledge to notice the concealed glances the two second years would sometimes throw each other.

The other members of the Devil Bats began showing up one by one in their uniforms and the Huh Huh Brothers were grinning as they claimed that the game had only been a warm up, a prelude to a good training session.

"If you're so eager to practice, why did you come in here?" Sena asked, raising his eyebrows at the group curiously when Juumonji cheeks gained a pink tint.

Kuroki rolled his eyes dramatically. "Well, it just wouldn't be the same if you weren't there, secretary-chan." He mockingly informed him. "Oh, and I guess it would be different if the monkey, genius and the idiot weren't there either, not that we can do much about the last one since he's got to take the exam."

The examiner came into the room soon after, waiting with an irritated look on his face as lessons and lectures were wrapped up as quickly as they could be.

"Good luck Taki-san." Sena called as he exited the room and Taki echoed his previous statements of his ability to pass at one hundred and fifty percent in reply.

'I just hope all that cram time was enough to let all the information sink into his head.'

Of course if he failed Hiruma could probably 'pull some strings', but that just wouldn't be fair.

He followed the group to the field, casting a curious glance in Mamori's direction as she fiddled with the glasses Suzuna had given her to look more teacher-like and said something to Yukimitsu softly.

'I wonder if they realize the chemi-' Sena's train of though stopped abruptly as he came to realize that he was actually thinking about someone's love life. Mamori's love life.

What? Was he trying to be a match-maker for his older sister figure or something?

'Moving away from that topic...'

With Mamori's attention focussed on Yukimitsu he was able to sneak over to the clubhouse and change with her none the wiser and soon enough he was able to throw himself into practice and forget the strange thoughts he'd been entertaining.

At least he had an excuse for pushing himself so hard, he hadn't been in the beginning of the game after all, and he needed to make up for it.

He'd been running through drills for nearly an hour when movement from the growing shadows caught his eye. He dismissed it as first as just his imagination, until he caught sight of it again and decided to look over at the movement more carefully.

Was that a hand waving him over?

'A creeper in the shadows, beckoning me to come to them? It must be Agon-san.' Sena thought with a smile and a roll of his eyes before sneaking over towards the edge of the field. He opened his mouth to greet the dread-head, but Agon beat him to the punch.

"You idiot."

Sena's mouth was left hanging for a moment as he tried to comprehend what brought this on.

"Excuse me?"

"What if I had been someone from a rival team with bad intentions, or a pervert? You can't just approach someone encased in shadows so carefree, you've got to be careful."

Oh, it was just one of Agon's protective streaks then, nothing to get insulted about.

"As much as I appreciate your concern, Agon-san," Sena began carefully but stopped short of completing his sentence, not wanting to disregard what Agon said again incase he accidentally insulted the older boy, again.

"Is that an unsaid 'but' I'm detecting?" Agon asked slowly and Sena quickly shook his head.

"Oh no, I'll make sure to be more careful next time." He said earnestly and Agon crossed his arms and nodded in approval.

"Good, now go change out of that uniform."

"Why?"

"Because you're ruining the victory by practicing right afterwards. You've got to let loose and let the good times roll. You can practice tomorrow."

Sena blinked up at him quizzically. "What do you mean 'and let the good times roll'? Besides, I have school tomorrow, I can't stay up much later."

Agon sighed and muttered something about not being fun at all before straightening back up.

"Fine, be a stick in the mud. But if you've got to get home soon anyways you may as well change now so I can walk you back."

Sena blanched. "Why?"

"Because you're mom's still mad about the whole America thing right? Do you really think she'll like you being out even this late when you have school in the morning, not to mention she probably knows the games don't go this late. At least if I walk you home you can have an excuse like I saw you after the game and needed your help with something." Agon grinned widely. "Aren't I a nice guy?"

Sena sighed and agreed to go change, knowing that Agon wouldn't lose the battle of logic.

"Alright, just stay here and don't cause trouble, please."

"Me? Cause trouble?" Agon scoffed as if they idea were completely preposterous.

"I mean it Agon-san, be a good boy."

"Hey, what am I, your dog?"

Sena couldn't keep in the laugher from envisioning Agon as a temperamental puppy, but thankfully he was already dashing away before Agon could demand to know what was so amusing.

The walk home thankfully hadn't been as awkward as it could have been and as Agon suspected, any anger that Sena's mother had due to him being out so late practically melted away when Agon told her that he'd needed Sena to help him with something.

It was a good thing his mother wasn't particularly curious about what Sena could have possibly helped Agon with, because then it probably would have been so easy to see Agon was lying through his teeth about the situation.

"Really Sena, you've got to remember to call when you're going to be out so that I don't have to worry." She said in a huff once Agon had left to do whatever he usually did at night. "Did you not even bother telling anyone else that you'd be with Agon-kun? Even if you didn't call me, I was still half-expecting a call from Mamori-chan to explain why you were being late."

"Really?" Sena 'Hmm'-ed in thought as he was dragged away into the kitchen.

'If Mamori-neechan forgot to call she really must have been distracted.'

Distracted just by trying to get Taki ready for the exam, or distracted by Yukimitsu?

'Not that I care or anything.' Sena told himself as his mother sat him down at the table. 'Because worrying about someone else's love life is pretty girly, right? And I'm not girly.'

"Alright young man, eat some dinner and then I want you to go straight to bed. You've got school in the morning you know."

"Yes mom, I know." Sena replied and she nodded her head in satisfaction before heading out of the kitchen.

He woke up early the next morning and headed to the clubhouse in a frantic rush as he wondered if Taki's results would have come out yet.

Sure he'd only taken the exam the day before, but he'd been the only one to take the exam, so it wasn't impossible for it to have been marked already.

When he arrived there were already a fair amount of his teammates already there, all of them wearing a similar, anxious expression.

Except for Taki, who was as cool as a cucumber in the face of this obstacle.

Everyone turned to look when the door burst open and Hiruma strolled in, tossing something at Taki faster than their eyes could track.

The blonde caught it effortlessly and looked at it curiously before flipping the small booklet open only to stop and stare at it in shock.

"At last... I'm a real high school student!" He whispered in shock before recovering and spinning around in his usual fashion while Suzuna and Kurita procured confetti from somewhere and began throwing it up into the air.

"A-ha-ha! Thanks everyone! For all your help!" He called loudly.

"I get the feeling we're being taken for fools." Kuroki commented darkly and before anyone else could agree Hiruma went into action, setting a large pile of books on the table and grinning widely.

"Alright, round two! Time for the Yuuhi Guts game meeting!"

Sena cautiously picked up one of the books, curtly labeled 'Yuuhi Guts: Secret', while Toganou peered at the remaining books, arching his eyebrows.

"There's so much information." He stated, giving Hiruma a look that seemed to ask 'how much of it was illegally obtained' but instead opted to ask how strong the Guts were instead.

"Football monthly gave them a 'D' grade." Monta replied as he flipped through a copy of the magazine he and Sena had been given by one of their classmates last week.

"And now that we have Taki, Deimon's chances of winning are..." Hiruma flipped through a couple papers thoughtfully. "About ninety nine percent."

"So it's our first game against a weaker team." Juumonji commented lightly and Monta pumped a fist into the air.

"We can do it!"

"There's still a one percent chance we could lose." Hiruma commented darkly and the good mood that had been filling up the room abruptly went away.

"But it's just one measly percent." Kuroki muttered under his breath and Hiruma shot a glare in his direction.

"One percent can make or break a game. If you don't take this threat seriously enough then there's no way to predict how the game will end." Hiruma informed them seriously.

'But a one percent chance is next to nothing, unless there's something special about the Yuuhi Guts that Hiruma-san's not telling us...'

They trained just as hard that week as they did all the others, not wanting Hiruma to be on their case about not trying hard enough. Everyone just allowed themselves to forget the percent chance Hiruma had said they'd had of winning, not wanting over-confidence to be their downfall.

It would put them on Amino's level, to not take any challenge seriously enough and end up being so sure of themselves that they ended up losing because they didn't think the other team had a snowball's chance in hell of winning.

And no one wanted to be put on Amino's level.

September eighteenth soon rolled around and Sena was forced to promise his mother that he'd come home before it got dark, or at least call if he knew he was going to be out late.

"Although you really shouldn't be out late, so I expect you to have a good reason if you come home after dark." She had reminded him with a frown before letting him go on his way.

The area around the stadium seemed to be just as crowded as it had been last week, all the remaining thirty two teams seemed to be arriving all at once so that they could watch some of the first matches.

'It's kind of eerie to think that after today, only sixteen teams are going to remain.' Sena thought as they made their way to the field they'd be playing on, staring up a the stands in wonder.

"No wonder there are so many people, there's going to be four games just on this field alone." Yukimitsu commented from beside him and Sena nodded, walking beside him in comfortable silence until they heard a strangled sound of surprise coming from their left.

They both turned to see Monta staring at a folded piece of paper, eyes wide as he read the information on it.

"Just look at the teams who'll be playing on this field! First is Oujou, then us, then Seibu and Hashiratani! They've got a bunch of powerhouse teams playing this field today." Monta grinned widely and his eyes roamed over the field, coming to a stop when the teams he'd just mentioned began to converge.

He threw Sena an amused smile. "Remember, now isn't the time for socializing." He said jokingly.

"Why not? Just because my friends are on other teams doesn't mean I can't talk to them." Sena responded with a half smile.

"Well-" Monta began only to be interrupted by a shout of:

"Down with Deimon! Knock 'em down!"


	81. Chapter 81

FASH: I am so sorry this chapter is so short, but I had to go out Christmas shopping today and then when I settled down to write I just couldn't think of anything. Gah! Writer's block! I'll make it up next chapter though, I'l have lots of Kakei and Mizumachi madness, cross my heart and hope to die.

""-speech

''-thoughts

Sena's eyes swiveled over to the source of the shout in mild surprise, looking the team over to try and asses them.

"Their key player is over on the left." Hiruma said as he appeared at Sena's side. "That's Yuuhi's captain, Atsumi. As for his abilities as a quarterback, well, you could say he's the best of the worst."

"Is that right?" Monta piped up, throwing a thoughtful look in their opposing team's direction. "Yuuhi High School is known for their baseball and volleyball teams and well, all their teams are thought of to be really great. It's one of those schools that , if you really want to get into a sport, it's best to try and go there." He said, his eyes glinting with knowledge on the subject. "I've heard that their football team is fierce and hardworking, but all of the players ended up on the prestigious baseball team. They're calling the football team weak because there aren't enough players."

"Weak?" Hiruma questioned darkly. "Remember not to underestimate them, fucking monkey. They've been playing football for three years straight, experience counts." He turned and cracked his knuckles with a smirk.

"And now is the part when I drop by for a good old fashioned greeting." He said before walking towards the group, the evil aura around him quickly becoming tangible.

'Does he have to do this stuff all the time?' Sena thought as he watched the blonde do what he was best at, intimidate people.

He'd just finished telling them about the guy they had on the team who had been scouted by the pros, with Taki exuberantly introducing himself, when something a little out of the norm happened.

Atsumi spoke up, straight faced and seemingly unaffected by Hiruma behavior.

"Bluffs and mind games are the Devil Bats' way." He stated and Sena fought the urge to assure him that it was only Hiruma's way, not everyone on the team.

"It's good to know you'll be giving it your all during this game, even though we won't be able to show you the Yuuhi Gut's way." He finished with a grimace before stalking off, his teammates following behind him.

"What do you suppose he meant by that?" Sena asked curiously, but Hiruma's response was only a deep set frown.

'I suppose I'll be finding out soon enough anyways. But first things first...' Sena's eyes turned to the field.

The Oujou game was about to begin.

Sena settled down and eagerly waited for the match to begin, allowing himself to become completely enthralled in the game until he was pulled back into reality due to a hand patting his shoulder.

"Dude, it's time to suit up." Monta informed him, even as he himself became distracted as Sakuraba made a particularly amazing catch.

"They've become even more amazing, huh?" Monta asked dryly and Sena nodded.

"Shin-san's speed and power have improved since the spring, but that's not all." Sena took in a shuddering breath. "Even his tackle seems different. There's something... I don't know what, but-"

"Wow, are you sure you don't have the hots for him?" Suzuna interrupted and Sena immediately went red and sputtered.

Thankfully Monta was around to defend his manliness for him.

"Hey! Just because he shows an awe inspiring amount of respect to someone who completely deserves it doesn't mean anything!" He said forcefully before taking Sena by the arm and leading him away.

"Come on Sena, it's almost time to give it all we've got!" He pumped a fist into the air excitedly and blatantly ignored Suzuna's cry of: 'Well, what am I supposed to think?'

They reached the change room and Sena was mildly surprised to see that it was empty, of course, if he'd been paying more attention he would have realized no one else had left to suit up yet, but still...

"Is there something you need to talk about Monta?" He asked directly and Monta's eyes flittered around for a moment before resting on him.

"Yeah, what that Atsumi guy said before he and the other Yuuhi players left is bothering me." He admitted slowly, wringing his hands together in a nervous fashion.

"I never told you this before, but you know how much of a baseball nut I am, right? Well, Yuuhi was one of the high school's I applied for, cause, you know, it had the reputation of having a great baseball team. I saw the ace of the Yuuhi baseball team walking around, and a couple other familiar looking guys from when I took the entrance exam for Yuuhi."

"And this has to do with the game how?"

"I just think that when Atsumi said they wouldn't get to show us the Yuuhi Guts way, they really meant their own team's way, as opposed to the school's way, do you get what I'm saying?"

"Sort of. But that's preposterous isn't it? Why would they switch up the team?"

"Yuuhi is the type of school that cares about their image, sports-wise even more than scholastically, and if one team is dragging them down, well, I think they'd want to keep that team from being a problem." Monta finished in a conspirator-ish whisper before jumping back.

"This is all just a theory mind you, but if that's what actually has happened..." Monta trailed off and gave Sena a thoughtful look. "We can't let them get away with something like that, right?"

"Right." Sena agreed before moving to change into his uniform.

'But would they really do something like that?'

His question was quickly answered when after everyone had suited up they went onto the field and he saw Atsumi, along with the other Yuuhi players sitting on the bench while a large amount of other people walked around the sidelines.

'I can't believe they actually did that, those bast-'

Sena's train of thought was abruptly cut off when Taki tried to make a flashy entrance, thankfully Suzuna was there to keep him in line by quickly and efficiently knocking him out before he could make a fool of himself.

Yuuhi's new team, made up of the aces of every other team, admittedly had their good points: fast runners, a great kicker and a fairly solid line, but that didn't mean the coach's method of trying to create a winning team was something Sena would commend him for.

Hiruma seemed to notice his train of thought and was quick to tell him it was natural to want the best athletes on a team, even if they replaced the normal players.

"That is, if the team of replacements really is stronger." He added in a way that made Sena think he was also thinking along the same lines, but just didn't want to admit it.

In any case, it wasn't long before he and Monta had agreed to put one hundred and ten percent into the game to show them that it was impossible to beat the Devil Bats with a bunch of fill-ins, hopefully managing to get the real Yuuhi Guts on the field in the process.

Of course, going up against a team of aces was going to be a bit difficult, especially when a couple of them were always keeping one eye on Monta, apparently having been told he was the only decent receiver on the team.

Good thing they still had their secret weapon, and Taki was all too eager to show off how amazing he was.

It wasn't long before Deimon was racking up the points and the fill-ins for Yuuhi were beginning to feel discouraged.

'It's only a matter of time now.' Sena told himself as he looked up at the scoreboard which read twenty six to zero. 'Pretty soon we'll get the real Yuuhi Guts on the field, I don't think the fill-ins have enough continuity to last much longer.'

At least, he hoped so.


	82. Chapter 82

FASH: Big thanks to Mithras151 who helped me figure out a couple of things I was stuck on for this chapter! And also gave me a deliciously devious idea. And KO-chan, your review made me smile. WRITER'S BLOCK is a thing to be feared indeed, just like Shin's Spear Tackle.

""-speech

''-thoughts

The start of what Sena would consider to be the 'real' game against the Yuuhi Guts began when he was trying to tackle the number forty one, the baseball ace, and only succeed in steering him off course, off of the field and into the bench the coach had been sitting on.

For a moment he worried that something like the Sakuraba-incident had happened all over again and he was quick to apologize, but the baseball player wasn't paying attention to him, his eyes were locked on Atsumi.

Then, without much conviction or pain in his voice he said: "Ow, it hurts! I think I broke my arm. Can someone fill in for me?"

And like some sort of strange domino effect all the other fill-ins began claiming injuries or illnesses that really hadn't been apparent before, at all. Which really left the coach no choice on what to do about the situation.

Thus, the real Yuuhi Guts made their way to the field with a renewed sense of competition and desire to win, despite how Deimon was now forty point lead.

And with their determination also came their one percent chance of winning, as opposed to the fill-in team's zero percent.

Their experience in the game made itself known when they were able to score a touchdown, something the ace fill-ins hadn't been able to accomplish. But when all was said and done, there was still no one on their team who could manage to stop the Devil Bat Ghost.

And so the Yuuhi Guts finished their last game of the season giving it their all, despite the horrible odds.

'I suppose that's the Yuuhi Guts' way they wanted to show us, their unshakable will to win and move on.' Sena smiled somberly as he made his was to the change room with the rest of his team. 'It's too bad that there are teams like that, trying so hard only to lose in the end. But it can't be helped, because we need to make sure the Devil Bats win.' He glanced over at Hiruma and Kurita and frowned.

'And we need to prove our strength enough for Musashi-san to come back.'

Everyone changed quickly, eager to see the Seibu game against Koigahama, a game that was quickly being dubbed the clash of the colossus and the ant by the announcers themselves.

"This matchup brings back memories." Sena commented dryly as he stared out at the field where the Cupids were going through their normal pre-game cuddling sessions with their girlfriends.

"This is going to be an interesting match to say the least, those guys don't look too serious." Monta said as he waked to the guard-rail to stand beside Sena.

"These were the guys you played against the first game of the spring season right? How do you think this game is going to end?"

"For the Cupids, I think it's going to end pretty badly. With Riku, Kid-san and Tetsuma-san going all out I wouldn't be surprised if the Wild Gunmen won by an exceptionally large margin."

And what do you know, he was absolutely right, they hadn't even reached the final quarter of the game and the score was one hundred and twenty five to ten and by that time the Cupid's captain was smart enough to realize that forfeiting would be easier than trying to keep going.

"I didn't expect them to win by that much though." Sena all but whispered as he watched the two teams leave the field.

"Seibu's playing stye is a lot like us, huh? All about offense, the complete opposite of Oujou." Monta commented and Sena nodded his head.

"You got a problem with that? All you have to do is score more points than you lose." Hiruma said with a cackle, eyes set intently on the field.

"That's just the sort of thing you'd go for." Sena, Monta and Kurita all mumbled under their breath until Kurita's attention was snatched away.

"He's here!" He announced, his grip on the guard-rail so tight that he began to bunch up the metal.

"And now the final match of the day!" One of the announcers excitedly began. "Here comes the legendary power house of the east! A resounding cheer goes out to the plaery whose number speaks for itself. It's Onihei Yamamoto and the Hashiratani Deer!"

"ONIHEI!" Kurita cheered along with a various bunch of tough looking guys who rather suddenly appeared at the guard-rail.

"Seems like the outcome of this match is pretty obvious too, huh Sena?" Monta questioned with a smile and Sena shrugged his shoulders.

'Alright Kyoshin, time to show everyone whether or not you can handle this.' He taped his fingers against the rail impatiently as the Poseidons came out onto the field.

'But this isn't right, where's the tall players I saw before? And Kakei-kun and Mizumachi-kun?' Sena scanned the field one more time before slowly turning his eyes to the sidelines. 'I don't get it, why aren't they playing?'

But he had no more time to wonder about it, the game was beginning.

True to everyone's expectations Onihei was doing a remarkable job and by the end of the first quarter they Deer were already up, fourteen to nothing. The announcers were once again claiming that the game was a clash of the colossus and the ant.

Then, as if on cue, the taller players on Kyoshin's sidelines began suiting up and worried whispers began breaking out in the stands, although they were quickly silenced by Onihei's supporters, claiming that Onihei could take down player's twice his size.

But despite everyone's reassurance that Onihei could still handle the tall players, what happened during the last three quarter's was nothing short of a cardiac arrest inducing shock for Onihei's fans.

Kyoshin's number seventy one, who Sena recognized as Mizumachi, had ironically gone up against Onihei who shared the same number and had, for lack of a better term, beaten Onihei into the ground.

The game ended thirty one to fourteen in Kyoshin's favor.

'Amazing, despite Onihei-san's experience and abilities, he still lost...'

Kurita seemed to be going through his mid life crisis due to the events that had happened on the field when the female reported for Sports-A-Go-Go prodded him lightly with her microphone.

"Excuse me! We'd like your comments on the promising Kyoshin Poseidons... But... Huh?" She cocked her head to the side curiously. "Where's the man behind the eyeshield?"

Sena froze and the reported perked up, looking around excitedly. "According to cheerleader Suzuna, he's as handsome and square-jawed as a Hollywood Star!"

Sena threw the girl beside in an incredulous look. "You've said too much!"

"Yaa. It seems I couldn't help but describe you that way, since that's what most girls think of you as anyways." Suzuna said with an embarrassed smiled.

"So, where's Eyeshield?" The female reported prodded once again.

"W-Well, Eyeshield... Uh..." Sena began slowly.

"Already left to..." Suzuna continued on, her finger pointing to the stadium's exit.

"Use the bathroom!" Monta interrupted gallantly.

"Okay, I'll just wait here until he comes back."

Both Sena and Suzuna turned to give Monta a look that screamed 'you've said too much'.

"Well, at least you have your gear, you can just go and change quickly somewhere, what's the worst that could happen?"

Sena threw a look behind him and the reporter who appeared to have all the time in the world and sighed. 'Well, I can't just leave her waiting there for no reason.'

"Fine, fine, I'll be back ASAP." He grabbed onto his duffle bag and headed out of the stadium.

'At least I'm small enough that I can probably change behind the cover of some trees or bushes.'

But still, he really hoped he didn't get any scratches in weird places because of this.

He changed as quickly as he could and jumped out before any creepy-crawlies decided to attach themselves to him.

Sadly he didn't look before he leaped, and collided with a hard surface before being knocked down onto the concrete.

He looked up, slightly disoriented, at the bare legs of the person in front of him.

'Wha? Is he just wearing boxers?' Sena quickly raised his head some more and resisted the urge to shrink back.

'Mizumachi-kun of the Poseidons, if he's around...'

"Are you Eyeshield twenty one?" The blonde asked and out of stupid, damnable reflex, Sena replied:

"Yes."

Then he realized how big of a hole he was digging himself.

"Wait! I-" He tried to explain himself, but before he could do anything to clear up a horrible misunderstanding Mizumachi was grabbing his hand and giving him the hardest, most enthusiastic handshake of Sena's life.

It sort of felt like his arm was going to be ripped out of it's socket.

"Yo, dude! Like, wow! What luck! Hope we meet in the championship! Glad we met!"

"Um, it's very nice to meet you too." Sena responded nervously, forgetting to deepen his voice because of all the hassle. "But listen, I don't think I'm really who-"

Mizumachi's listening skills were apparently below standard, because he was already calling over someone who Sena definitely did not want to meet like this just yet.

"Hey, Kakei! I bumped into Eyeshield! It's this guy right? The exchange student you met in America!"

Kakei's eyes narrowed and Sena felt himself freezing for a moment under the gaze.

'Come on Sena, you knew someday something like this would happen, it's not like you're completely unprepared.'

"Weren't you, like, an awesome exchange student at Notre Dame?" Mizumachi questioned curiously after Sena's silence and the brunette opened his mouth to confess that he wasn't, but Kakei beat him to the punch.

He got interrupted a lot, didn't he?

"When I was in junior high I was an exchange student in America. That was two years ago. I saw with my own eyes the brilliant Japanese athlete at Notre Dame's junior high feeder school."

Kakei took an intimidating step forward, his glare becoming harsher when Sena held his ground.

"The real Eyeshield twenty one. I'll never forget him, he wasn't short like you."

If looks could kill, Sena would have been six feet deep a hundred times over.

"You're not Eyeshield twenty one. He was a Japanese exchange student who was a superb runner. Top class speed, technique, balance. And most of all, he couldn't be stopped. With his height and power, he never lost to the American guys. So who the hell are you?"

"Eyeshield's tall?" Mizumachi questioned in surprise. "Then, you're a fake?"

"Well, you see, I..." Sena stumbled around for the right words for a moment before steeling his nerves.

'You knew this would happen someday, so calm down, take a deep breath, and defend yourself!'

"I don't mean any offense, nor do I doubt the abilities of the real Eyeshield twenty one. But before judging if I'm worthy of the title or not, why don't you see my abilities for yourself?" Sena asked in the steadiest voice he could manage.

"Ha! This one's got spirit, doesn't he Kakei?" Mizumachi grinned and stepped forward, lowering himself down to Sena's height.

"I suppose if you're looking to try and prove your worth, I wouldn't mind showing you a couple of my moves." His eyes glinted in a strangely dangerous fashion. "What do you say? Wanna go one on one?"

"That isn't necessary Mizumachi." Kakei interrupted. "The outcome between you and this fake is obvious."

"Why is it obvious?" Sena asked despite his better judgment warning him to keep quiet.

"With your delicate build and small size, you'll never be in the same league as the real Eyeshied. Come on Mizumachi, let's go."

"Bye bye, chibi-chan!" Mizumachi called before turning to follow Kakei.

'I can't just leave it at that can I? It's like they think I'm some sort of bad joke! I haven't been training all this time just to be brushed off as a useless fake.'

Sena clenched his fists, and, once again despite his better judgment, called out.

"Like or not, I'm the Eyeshield twenty one of the Deimon Devil Bats! And that isn't going to change!"

Kakei paused briefly and threw him a calculation look over his shoulder.

"The Devil Bats, you say? I suppose I'll have to make you renounce that title, not only for the real Eyeshield, but for the people who would otherwise be associated with a fake like you." He said coldly before turning his back on Sena once more.

'For the people who would otherwise be associated with a fake? What does he mean?' Sena bit his lip nervously and turned around with his eyes glued on his feet. 'Maybe I should have kept that last comment to myself. It didn't seem to do me much good anyways. If anything I think Kakei-kun hates me even more now. And does height really matter that much? Although Mizumachi-kun was able to defeat Onih-

For the second time in the span of seven minutes Sena bumped into someone, although this one was a person he was much better acquainted with.

"Hiruma-san, how long have you been here!?"

"Oh, long enough." The blonde replied with a grin that made Sena feel sure that he'd been there since the very beginning of that mess.

"Then why didn't you come over to help me. Kakei-kun is a really intimidating guy! I couldn't even speak up to defend myself during the first part of his tirade, being pinned under that glare of his and all."

"It didn't look like you needed my help, you seemed to be handling everything fine by yourself." Hiruma said calmly as he nonchalantly unwrapped a piece of sugarless gum and chomped down on it.

"Now come on, you've got to answer a few stupid questions for the female reporter before we can get going." Hiruma tugged on his arm and began leading him back into the stadium.

"Get going where?"

"To our victory celebration of course."


	83. Chapter 83

FASH: Oh my God! Did you see Sena in chapter 310? "Wait, Gaou-kun!" These moments are why you're my favorite character ever, Sena! And the 'fastest four' are now going to be branded as the Fantastic Four in my mind. There they go to save the day!

And now that I'm done with my fangirl moment...

""-speech

''-thoughts

"Victory celebration? But my mom wants me to come straight home today." Sena protested weakly as he was lead over to the reporter.

"So? It can't be that hard to come up with an excuse for why you have to stay. Besides, if your mom was so concern about your social life all those years ago that she actually set you up on play dates, I bet she's still pretty concerned and would hate to separate you from your little friends." Hiruma grinned down at him darkly.

"And if that doesn't work, I'm sure I can come up with something else."

"Yeah, you could." Sena admitted with a sigh before straightening up and marching forward to meet with his doom.

To be fair the interview wasn't completely awful, although the reporter did attempt to bribe him into taking his hemet off more times then Sena wanted to remember.

Upon the completion of the short interview he was finally allowed to change back into his regular clothes and not long after was dragged by his multitudes of teammates to a restaurant so they could party it up for surviving the second round.

But Sena really wasn't in the mood to party. Instead he busied himself with staring blankly at the table in front of him, occasionally letting out a soft sigh.

'So Kakei-kun hates me...' He was fairly certain he'd never been truly hated before, and just remembering the way Kakei had glared down at him made him uncomfortable.

'I can understand why he'd be angry of course, especially since he knew the original Eyeshield, but he was a bit more hostile than I had expected. And it's like he was trying to make me feel inferior just because I'm small. Is height really that important?' He slumped down a little, ignoring the several concerned looks being sent his way in favor of continuing his train of thought.

'Mizumachi-kun's height might have been what helped him against Onihei-san, and I guess for runners the taller you are, the longer your legs are, the less strides you have to take when you run a certain distance and so on. But Riku is my height, and Shin-san isn't very tall, he's taller than me, but compared to Kakei-kun and Mizumachi-kun...'

His eyes drifted to the side where he assumed some illusionary Shin was standing for him to make a comparison.

He nearly jumped out of his skin when he realized it actually was Shin.

"S-Shin-san! Takami-niichan!"

"Ah, it's Deimon." Sakuraba said aloud, sending Sena a brief wave which was quickly returned as Sena watched the White Knights file into the restaurant.

Oujou's coach was quickly bidden to Doburoku's side and the two friends appeared to be set on speaking of the old days.

Sena decided to abandon his pity party for the moment, not wanting to have Takami worry about him unnecessarily, and, not really in the mood to take part in the strange eating contest that appeared to be starting he stepped away from the table he'd been at to stand beside Yukimitsu.

"You're not to keen on staying at this 'battlefield' either, eh?" Yukimitsu asked with a twitchy smile as he saw Ikari begin digging in, quickly followed by many others.

"Yeah, it's a bit to chaotic. Did you want to find someplace else to sit?" Sena questioned lightly and Yukimitsu nodded before setting out to find a more relaxed atmosphere.

Sitting with the coaches was a no go, since they were both sure they weren't going to fit in with the hard-boiled atmosphere the older men seem to be exuding.

Normally Sena wouldn't have minded sitting with Takami and Hiruma at the same time, but they were talking about something that Sena was pretty sure neither he nor Yukimitsu wanted to get tangled up in.

They probably could have sat with the girls, giving Yukimitsu some time with Mamori while he spoke to Suzuna and Wakana about whatever they wanted, but he had the feeling that if he sat with them talking about dating, players specifically, it would make him look even more gay than he apparently usually was.

So that was, obviously, also not an option.

So somehow they ended up back at their old table, the eating contest now in full swing with the stakes rising.

It wasn't long before Sena snuck away again, not really in the mood for this sort of thing at all.

He walked outside, figuring some fresh air and open space would help him figure a couple things out, but those hopes were dashed once he caught a flicker of movement out of the corner of his eye and he turned to see Shin, doing chin ups on the restaurant's trademark statue.

Nothing was quite as distracting as Shin when he was training.

Sena resisted the urge to vocally note how strange the sight in front of him was and instead allowed his eyes to follows Shin's movements for several long moments.

'I doubt I could even do one of those. And how did he even get up there in the first place?' Sena's eyes looked around for any clue, and upon finding none just chalked it up to being a 'Shin thing'.

It wasn't long before Shin realized that he was being watched and soon enough he allowed himself to drop down to the ground.

"Sena-kun, you seem troubled." He stated as he put his shirt back on and Sena, trying to change the subject, asked if Shin wasn't hungry.

"I have ingested the necessary amount of nutrients already. You should already know that I don't simply eat for the sake of eating. All that I do is to ensure I can develop and maintain a true athlete's body." Shin responded tonelessly and Sena sighed.

"A true athlete's body, huh?" He whispered to himself.

"You are looking troubled again, why?" Shin asked with mild curiosity.

"Oh, nothing really." Sena replied.

Shin gave him a disbelieving look.

"Well, in your opinion Shin-san, when you're playing defense who's harder to stop: a tall, well built runner, or someone on the smaller side like me?"

"If all things about them are equal, including speed and agility, the tall, well built one cannot be stopped by just any tackle."

"Yeah, that's what I figured. And if someone like Onihei-san, who couldn't even be taken down by big guys like Ikari-kun or Kurita-san, could be defeated by someone tall like Mizumachi-kun, well, I guess that indicates what type of build is best for certain things."

"The Kyoshin game today has made you uneasy?"

"Not so much the Kyoshin game as one of the players who, well..." Sena bit his lip, not entirely sure if Shin knew about the real Eyeshield. "Suffice to say, after speaking with him I can't help but feel my height is going to be a disadvantage."

"You should not let what people say bother you." Shin commented seriously, staring into Sena's eyes earnestly. "Remember, the strength of a hit does not depend solely on physique." He rested a hand on Sena's shoulder, as if to assert his presence more. "The trump card is unflinching inner strength. If you're tormented by the feeling of inferiority before you fight, Deimon won't stand a chance."

He drew away his hand, beginning to turn away and once again Sena found himself speaking up, not wanting the conversation to just end without some more of his own input.

"It's not about feeling inferior Shin-san, I just want to know my weak points early on so I can do whatever I need to get the team to the Christmas Bowl." He clenched a fist in determination, some of the indignity he had felt when Kakei spoke down to him returning.

"I'm good at running, I may not be able to run into a crowd of big guys and bowl them over, and I may not be as strong as Eyes- as some other players, but that doesn't mean I'm easy to catch. We're definitely going to the finals! And we'll beat you too, Shin-san!"

Shin's eyes widened minutely and for a moment Sena thought he might have said too much, but he was proven wrong when a small, barely-there smile appeared on Shin's lips.

It was gone quickly, but Sena was certain he hadn't imagined it.

"Your height won't change, even if you tell it to." Shin said conversationally. "If you're worried about your body, then after training or a game like today's you should get some protein. It's especially important for a body like yours that's still developing." He nodded his head in the direction of the restaurant behind him. "Yakiniku's not a bad source."

"Th-thanks Shin-san." Sena said sincerely as he watched Shin begin jogging off to only God knows where before stepping back into the restaurant and moving to take a place at the table where the eating contest was slowly coming to a close.

'Well, Shin-san said I should get some protein, so...'

He was a bit of a fickle creature sometimes, but his teammates didn't need to know why he suddenly felt the need to help them on their 'quest'.

The night finally came to a close and Sena walked home, secure in the knowledge that Hiruma, or Mamori, had given his mother some excuse for staying out later than he should have.

'Although I really should start coming home earlier on game days, in case mom gets sick of excuses and decides to put me on a strict curfew every night.'

The following week passed by at a snail's pace despite how quickly Sena wished it would go by. He all too often remembered telling Kakei to become aware of his strengths before judging him and he was really hoping that the other boy would at least watch a bit of the game against the Scorpions.

It probably wouldn't end up changing his opinion at all, but at least he'd know that Sena wasn't completely butchering the title of Eyeshield 21.

Then the day of the game against Dokubari finally came, and with it some rather strange instructs from Hiruma as told by Kurita.

Sena was just too used to this sort of thing, which was probably why he was the first of the guys to put the lipstick on.

When Hiruma arrived and violently chastised Kurita for telling everyone they needed to wear it that Sena thought he should have known better.

'Ah well, what can you do?' He found that he couldn't really find it within himself to care.

It was just lipstick after all, and he'd already been put into girl's clothing more times than he cared to recount.

'Man, I'm really way too used to this sort of thing.' He thought without venom as he stared across the field at their opponents.

Dokubari's captain was supposed to be pretty sly and clever, apparently able to figure out an opposing team's plan just by taking into account nearly unnoticeable changes in his opponents' demeanor.

'But if this ends up being a game of wits, there's no way Hiruma-san is going to lose.' Sena pursed his lips together, taking in the foreign sensation of his lips slickly rubbing against each other due to their pink coating.

'... I'm way too used to this.' He told himself once more, as if repeating it would make the fact he was willingly wearing lipstick, that he didn't actually need to be wearing, less strange.

'Maybe I should rub it off?'


	84. Chapter 84

FASH: And here we are again. The first little bit is for you Mithras151, oh, and I think you'll like when Sena goes to spy on Kyoshin. At least I hope you like it, since you gave me 'that idea'. :)

""-speech

''-thoughts

Sena was pulled away from his observation of Dokubari when Juumonji came to stand beside him.

"That colour really suits you." He said with a smirk and Sena, not entirely too affronted by the comment, turned to look up at the other boy, his eyes staying on Juumonji's own lips.

"Funny, I was about to say the same thing to you." Sena replied, watching with great interest as Juumonji turned a whole array of different shades of red all at once.

'I guess he forgot I wasn't the only one who ended up doing this sort of thing this time around.'

Juumonji seemed to be trying to form a coherent sentence when Monta bounded over, looked at the blonde curiously for a moment, then asked what he'd been struck speechless for.

"Oh, nothing much." Sena replied, clasping his hands behind his back and rocking back and forth on his heels. "I was just saying that the lipstick really looks good on you guys."

Monta flushed, much like Juumonji had done before him and Sena couldn't help but smile.

'Well, I think that's enough of that for today. Hopefully now if I'm ever forced to 'go girl' again they won't make a fuss about it.'

He turned his attention back to Dokubari, a voice in the back of his mind hoping that no one else he knew would see the lipstick and decide to comment on it.

The game against the Scorpions, as Sena had somewhat expected, wasn't too hard to win, mainly due to Hiruma's multiple schemes meant to mess Kanagushi's head.

After the game Sena had wearily searched the stands for any signs of the players from Kyoshin. 'I hope that they at least saw the last couple of plays before getting ready for their game against Zokugaku. Surely after seeing several consecutive Devil Bat Ghosts their opinion of me would go up, at least a little.' Sena worriedly twiddled his thumbs as he made his way off of the field. 'Unless of course, Kakei-kun is already set in his hate for me.'

He sighed listlessly. 'For some reason, it seems like that last one is the more likely answer.'

The next game was to be Kyoshin against Zokugaku and Sena nervously noted that Mizumachi and Kakei were out on the field at the very beginning this time around.

'I guess since they've already shown themselves, there's not point in being a secret weapon.'

"Go for it, Zokugaku!" He cheered lowly, because at least Rui was sort of nice to him, sometimes, like when he'd given him a ride to the stadium.

But despite Zokugaku's adaptation to match Kyoshin's tall line, it seemed that none of Zokugaku's linemen could stand up against Mizumachi's 'Swim' technique.

Kyoshin ended up winning twenty one to nothing.

Another week, another halving of the teams, only eight teams left.

"Hey Sena, I've been thinking..." Monta began after school the following day. "We've got to practice going up against tall players, so that we're more prepared to face Kyoshin. And so I have come up with a great idea!"

Sena, although slightly scared to ask what it was, proceeded to do so.

"Come on to the field so I can show you!"

"But Monta, aren't we all going to be leaving to get new cleats soon?"

"Never mind about that. This is important to the MAX!"

And so that was how Sena found himself on the field, with Suzuna, staring up at Monta who had by some force of nature maneuvered himself onto a pair of rather high stilts.

'He must have a really good sense of balance to have not fallen over yet.' Sena thought dimly as he watched Monta take several steps.

"You know how Kyoshin's linemen are so tall? Well, our mock Kyoshin linemen can get on these. It'll be just like the real thing!" Monta called down to them.

"Uh, I don't think they're actually that tall Monta, but..." Sena trailed off as Monta began loosing his balance and took several hasty steps to the side before falling, the tops of the stilts ramming against Deimon's gate, thus still keeping Monta partially suspended in the air.

Sena thought he heard a couple unfamiliar cries of pain, but he quickly dismissed that thought as he went over to make sure his friend was okay.

Monta, it seemed, was better than okay, in fact he was still so completely enamored with his idea that when they made it to Kimidori Sports with everyone else he asked the shopkeeper if he had platforms.

Thankfully Suzuna was there to keep him in line, nonchalantly knocking him over the head with a shoe box while drawling. "That isn't what we're here for. For next week's match you'll be on artificial turf so we came here to get turf shoes, remember?"

"Yeah, yeah." Monta muttered as he crossed his arms. "But I still think that some platforms would help us in our training to go up against tall guys..." He muttered, most of his complaining being drowned out by the shop keeping calling his part timer to bring more cleats out.

Sena swore he nearly he a heart attack when the one coming out of the back room going: "Yes sir, Mr. Manager!" was Hiruma.

"Wh-what are you doing here?"

"Oh didn't I tell you guys? I started part time here today!" He smirked. "And I'm also quitting today too!"

"What?" The manager questioned in surprise, but Hiruma just laughed darkly.

"Sir, Kyoshin High School also bought cleats for artificial turf. Shall I deliver them?" He asked, already packing away the shoe boxes into several bigger boxes.

"Uh, yes please." The manager replied with a nervous smile and Hiruma cackled.

"Delivering packages part-time, and happening to peek in on Kyoshin's training, you can't call that spying!" He declared evilly before a thought struck him.

"Oh, that's right, they don't know your mug, you go!"

"Me?!" Sena pointed to himself warily. "But they've seen me before! Really!"

Hiruma appeared to not be listening and threw him a zip up seater to cover his Devil Bats tee-shirt and a green Kimidori apron.

Sena put them both on with a sigh. 'If I just do it really quickly, maybe I can be out of there before Kakei-kun sees me.'

Sena made his way to Kyoshin, Monta and Komusubi coming along to help him carry the boxes, with a feeling of dread growing with every step he took.

After the three of them had piled up the boxes of turf shoes by the clubroom door before Monta and Komusubi had run off to hide and Sena was left to knock on the door with a sigh.

The door was opened by a boy with a rather large bump on his head.

"All right, turf shoes!" He exclaimed as Sena leaned down to remove the tape on one of the bigger boxes. "Thanks for coming all this way to... Hey! You're from Deimon!"

Sena flinched back, staring at him with wide eyes as the other boy turned to the people in the clubroom shouting "A spy! A spy!"

'How'd he find me out so quickly?!' He stood up and began to retreat, but found he couldn't move back anymore due to a single hand pressing against his back.

For a fearful moment he remembered Gaou of the Dinosaurs and the time he'd stopped on oncoming truck with one hand, probably because the whole being found out as a spy thing reminded him of the time he fell from the tree.

Sena quickly tried to gather up his nerves and turned to look behind him just as a familiar voice asked: "What are you doing?"

He turned to see Kakei glaring down at him, even more intimidating than usual.

'He's only using his palm, but I can't budge! This does not bode well!'

But Kakei's glare quickly softened and he brought his hand away from Sena's back once he caught sight of his face. "It's you."

"It's me?" Sena repeated nervously, not entirely sure, despite Kakei's softer expression, if it was a good thing to be himself.

"Yes, you're... Ah..."

"Kobayakawa Sena, manager for the Deimon Devil Bats!" Sena bowed deeply as he introduced himself.

"Yes, we've seen each other a couple times before, remember?" Kakei prodded and Sena nodded his head, glancing around nervously.

"Yes well, I'm here to deliver your cleats. See?" He quickly ducked down and picked up the boxes to prove his point.

"Yes I see, come on in." Kakei bid him as he lead the way and Sena found himself nervously explaining himself as he set the boxes down and began opening them up.

"I-I've never been a manager or secretary for any sort of team before, so I just thought it would be polite if I visited you before the game. And while my team was picking up their turf shoes I noticed that you guys hadn't picked yours up yet, so I thought that maybe it would be nice if I brought them to you." He finished lamely, eyes glued to the ground as he began handing out the cleats.

"I-I'm sorry if I shouldn't have come, I'll leave right now if I'm intruding." He offered, sort of hoping that Kakei would turn him out.

No such luck.

Kakei set down a couple tea cups on the table Sena was kneeling by and began filling them up.

"So, you came to visit as manager and while you were at it you delivered our shoes from Kimidori Sports." Kakei sat down at the opposite end of the table, picking up his tea cup and looking over at Sena earnestly.

"I apologize. You came in good faith and we treated you like a spy."

"No, it's all my fault. That is..." Sena wondered if it were possible to die from guilt, because that's what he felt like doing at the moment.

'Kakei-kun is a lot nicer to me than I expected him to be.'

"Hey, what's up? Kakei's serving tea!" Mizumachi loudly entered the clubroom, his eyes falling on Sena and staying there for quite a while.

"Hey, don't I know you from somewhere?" He asked curiously and Sena opened his mouth to tell him that they'd briefly seen each other on the way to Enoshima, but an epiphany struck the blonde before he could begin.

"You're that girl that Kakei saved from being harassed by that shady lookin' guy!" He exclaimed loudly and Sena could feel his face heat up.

'How does he remember that?!'

"I-I think you're mistaken."

"No! I remember! It was before summer vacation, you've cut your hair since then!"

"Mizumachi, Sena is actually quite male." Kakei graciously cut in, but Mizumachi didn't look very convinced.

"You're sure?" He gave Sena another thorough once over. "Maybe the apron is just confusing me." He said with a laugh and Sena looked down at himself incredulously.

'No, the apron hasn't magically given me any unwanted female parts, so how is this plausible?'

"Sena is the manager of the Devil Bats, he came by to drop off our turf shoes." Kakei explained as Mizumachi reached over to grab a bowl of cookies.

"What gives then? I thought you hated Deimon."

"I don't hate Deimon, at least their manager Sena is a good guy."

Sena felt that familiar stab of guilt again. 'Oh, if only you knew who else I was on the team. I wonder if Akaba-san ever had to go through this sort of thing?'

"Hah! Speaking of Deimon, I heard that your fake Eyeshield is supposedly as handsome as a Hollywood star. Is that actually true?" Mizumachi asked with a wide grin as he sat down on Sena's right side.

"Uh..." Sena nervously glanced at Kakei, who's countenance began to darken at the topic while the grip on his teacup tightened.

"I bet he's some ladykiller then. You should watch out, guys like that are trouble." Mizumachi continued, apparently once again lapsing into the thought that Sena was a girl without realizing it.

"Oh, Eyeshield-kun isn't interested in me, even though some people seem to think he is." Sena said offhandedly, thinking of how Mamori used to think that way.

"Still, you should watch out for guys with bad intentions! For all you know he's not only a fake, but also a lying womanizer, right Kakei?" Mizumachi threw the other boy a look and Kakei struggled for a moment to soften his expression.

"Right, you should be wary of someone like that. Who knows what else he's trying to hide under that eyeshield."

'Oh, but Kakei-kun, Mizumachi-kun,' Sena inwardly cried. 'I'm the one who's under the Eyeshield.'

And he certainly wasn't a womanizer!

"I think you're being a little too hard on him. I mean, I'm not saying he's the greatest or anything, but just because he's an Eyeshield-" Sena began in his own defense, but Kakei raised a hand to silence him.

"The name doesn't really matter." He began and Sena wasn't quite sure if he believed him. "If Deimon's number twenty one were a top-notch runner, I wouldn't care who he said he was. But this is different. The fake Eyeshield's running ability is nothing compared to the devastating force of the real Eyeshield."

"But... Is our Eyeshield twenty one really that bad a runner?"

"A joker like that calling himself Eyeshield twenty one." Kakei slammed a fist against the table, causing Sena to flinch nervously. "Is an insult to the real one! Sena, give that impostor a message for me." He took a deep breath.

"If you've got the strength to equal Eyeshield, then bring it on!"


	85. Chapter 85

FASH: Here's some more Kyoshin guys coming your way, mostly Mizumachi this time around though. Anyone else out there experiencing 'Snow-mageddon'? I was shovelling my driveway this morning, cause if you wait until the snow stops falling you'll break your back, and by the time I reached the bottom the top was already covered with snow again. And now that my pity party's over...

""-speech

''-thoughts

"R-right, I'll be sure to, erm... Tell him to 'bring it on' the next time I see him." Sena nervously replied as he stared at the tea in front of him, finding himself unable to look Kakei in the eye.

Kakei, upon noticing the brunette's apprehension, calmed himself down once more.

"I realize that it may seem as though I'm being unfair to your team member, but if you knew how great the real Eyeshield was compared to that fake I'm sure you would agree with me."

Sena skittishly nodded his head, finding himself unable to speak at the moment.

'He's so nice to me when I'm myself, I wonder how he'll act around me when I reveal my identity?'

"So, do you have a boyfriend?" Mizumachi cut in and Sena froze up even more, cheeks starting to burn.

"B-b-b-boyfriend?" He squeaked and Mizumachi nodded until Kakei nonchalantly lifted a hand and brought it down in a chopping motion on Mizumachi's head.

"Ow! Kakei, what did ya do that for?"

"Sena is a boy, remember?"

"Oh yeah, I keep forgetting! Funny huh?"

No it wasn't funny, it was unnerving and unsettling and made Sena want to hide under the table in case Kakei started remembering that yes, he had once 'saved' a 'girl' that looked an awful lot like Sena from being 'harassed' by a dread-headed boy.

But since he couldn't exactly say that Sena just managed to nod and give the blonde a small smile.

"Well, I think I've imposed on you long enough, thank you for the tea, I hope we have a great game next Sunday." He said as he rose out of his chair, Mizumachi and Kakei following suite.

Sena laughed nervously at that and motioned them both to sit back down. "Oh, don't bother yourselves on my account." He quickly flattened out the cardboard boxes he'd brought the shoes over in and tucked them under his arm.

"Well, I'll be seeing you soon. Good luck with your training." He called as he exited the clubhouse, taking a deep breath when he shut the door behind him.

Then the door swung back open immediately afterwards.

"Mizumachi-kun, was there something you needed?" Sena asked slowly.

'Please, please, please don't tell me you've realized that I was the girl Kakei-kun 'saved' and now you're going to blackmail me.'

"I'll walk you over to the school's big recycling bin, that way you don't have to carry all that cardboard for too long."

'Or maybe I just spent too much time around Hiruma-san and jump to conclusions.'

"Thank you, that would be quite helpful."

Mizumachi grinned down at him before setting off, Sena keeping up the pace beside him.

"Funny dude, that Kakei." The blonde began, apparently not in the mood to be silent. "He flips out whenever it's about Eyeshield. And now that that he's back in Japan and in the fall tournament-"

"You know he's in the tournament? Then do you know who he really is?" Sena found himself blurting out, and his interest in the subject just seemed to get Mizumachi more riled up.

"Nope, Kakei doesn't even know who he is, which is probably why he's so aggravated about your guy, he thinks he's making a mockery out of the guy who inspired him."

"Inspired?" Sena repeated, another wave of guilt crashing over him.

'So Kakei-kun isn't just a fan who thinks Eyeshield is awesome, he's someone who absolutely, totally and completely respects and looks up to him.'

No wonder Kakei was so angry, it was like Sena was trying to badly impersonate his childhood hero or something.

"Wanna hear? Wanna hear about when Kakei was studying abroad and about the mystery behind the real Eyeshield? Kakei wouldn't even be playing today if he hadn't met him in America!" Mizumachi paused, eyes trailing to the side where Kyoshin's pool was, curious.

Sena heard a slight rippling of the water and gulped.

'Are Monta and Komusubi-kun still hanging around?'

"Anyways!" Mizumachi started up again, apparently no longer interested in whatever had caught his attention in the first place. "Kakei's always been really tall for a Japanese dude, I hear he was like, five foot six in grade school!"

Sena's eyes widened. "Wow."

He was only five foot one. Of course Mizumachi might have been exaggerating a bit. At least he hoped he was exaggerating.

"Yeah, so when he fist started playing he was pretty much the ace of the team because of his height, and he didn't bother trying to improve himself like his coaches would tell him, he'd never try and use his height to his advantage. Then he went to study over in America, where his height didn't really matter all too much, going up against guys who were not only as tall or taller than him, but had also been practising a lot harder than he had. When the coach over there saw he wasn't all that he benched him. Then Kakei stopped coming to practice." Mizumachi tapped at his lips thoughtfully before pointing at Sena.

"Oh, but you're probably wondering how the real Eyeshield fits in right?" He grinned and gripped at the hem of his shirt. "Well don't rush me!" He flung the shirt over his head with practised ease. "I'm getting there!"

"Yes... But... Your clothes..."

"Anyways, he'd been hanging out with a couple of buddies from America when he first heard of Eyeshield, and since he was such big news, 'the super running back from the East' Kakei, even though he'd quit on football, decided to check him out." Mizumachi kicked off his shoes.

"Well, when he saw Eyeshield, someone who was Japanese, doing so great against the American players, it was sort of like a wake up call to him, ya know? Here was someone like him, except Eyeshied had been training to take advantage of his height and stuff and that's why he could take on the Americans. After that Kakei started to do some hard core training. Then his team finally got to play against Notre Dame."

Sena found himself leaning forward in interest. "Was Kakei-kun still on the bench?"

"Yeah, for everything but the last play. From what I've heard Kakei went in to try and stop him, came pretty close, but ultimately failed. He was moping out loud to himself after the game, which caught Eyeshield's interest since he didn't see many people from Japan around. They got to talking and in the end Eyeshield promised Kakei another game, this time with him playing in it from the very start."

"And Kakei-kun didn't think to ask for his name?" Sena asked, cheeks tinting pink when Mizumachi, much like he had with the rest of his clothing, took off his pants and tossed them to the side.

"That's the thing! That's where the mystery begins!"

"Yes, but your clothes..." Sena tried to not stare directly at Mizumachi's chest, but he didn't feel quite like looking him in the eye, so he settled for concentrating on somewhere less embarrassing.

'Does he shave his legs? No! Focus, focus!'

"To keep his promise with Eyeshield Kakei trained hard not only to beat the guy, but to become a starter. He was good to begin with, and before you knew it Kakei was Phoenix's ace! However, just when the fateful game against Notre Dame was a week away, Eyeshield disappeared without a trace."

"And that's it?" Sena asked slowly as Mizumachi leapt over the fence surrounding the pool and took his stance on one of the diving boards.

"Kakei believed him." Mizumachi said over his shoulder before diving in, surfacing a few moments later. "Since they promised to fight it out, the guy must be in the national tournament. Kakei believes that Eyeshield will keep his word. If we just keep winning, we'll play him sooner or later."

Mizumachi paused in his swimming and sent Sena a very direct look. "So we're gonna beat you guys. Sorry!" He said, completely serious. "Deimon has a lot of short dudes, whereas we've got an awesome height advantage."

Sena tried to keep himself from frowning. 'So it comes down to another height thing huh?'

"I'll tell you one thing. That one lineman on your team. What's-his-name? Omusubi or something."

"Komusubi-kun." Sena stubbornly corrected, not liking the tone Mizumachi was beginning to take.

"That little squirt's in for it big time. You should cut him from the team."

"But we can't do that!"

"If you don't, sorry, but he'll be matched up against me. You'd practically be asking me to flatten him." The blonde lazily drawled in a matter-of-fact tone.

Sena frowned and gripped at the fence in front of him, so intent on Mizumachi that he didn't even look away when both Komusubi and Monta burst out of the pool and ran off, one after another.

"Mizumachi-kun. Komusubi-kun and the rest of us have to prove ourselves! We'll show you that even little guys can be the best!"

"Hmm. This'll be fun then." Mizumachi replied lowly.

Then Sena realized that he may have said a little more than necessary and promptly rushed off at full speed.

'Oh dear, I hope I didn't seem to confrontational about proving ourselves. Mizumachi-kun doesn't seem the type who'd be able to recognize me in my uniform, but Monta didn't seem the type either. If I seem too passionate he might be able to form a connection.'

And speaking of forming connections, he was going to have to be cautious around the blonde to make sure he didn't make the connection between him and the girl Kakei had helped.

'But for now, onto more important things.' Sena quickly allowed thoughts of concealing his identity from Mizumachi to drift away from his mind as he caught up with Monta.

"Monta! I think I have an idea. A training method to stop Kyoshin!"

"Say what?" Monta asked in surprise. "What is it?"

"It's still in the works, so I've got to find Komusubi-kun and make sure he thinks it's a good plan." Sena allowed his eyes to stray ahead of him and he slowed to a stop.

"Where is he anyways? Weren't you right behind him?"

Monta came to a halt beside him. "He may have ducked into a side-street or something so that we'd pass him. I think the blonde's way of thinking might have gotten to him a bit."

"Then we should go back and see if we can find him."

"Sena, this is Komusubi we're talking about. I'm sure he won't let it get to him, it's just the initial shock of knowing he's going up against a guy like that. By tomorrow he'll be fine."

Sena shifted around uncomfortably. "If you say so, I've probably got to get home soon anyways." He looked down at himself, not sure if he'd even have enough time to swing by Kimidori to return the apron.

"I'll see you tomorrow then, and remember, don't worry about it. Komusubi's a tough guy."

Sena smiled weakly and bid Monta goodbye, heading home with a distinctly bad feeling.

'Komusubi-kun is tough, but when you're made fun of for something you can't improve it makes you feel insufficient.'

Sena felt a little angry for a moment, what right did people like Kakei and Mizumachi have to say that just because someone was shorter then them they would be worse compared to the taller person?

He shook away the feeling quickly though, not wanting to hold a grudge against people who were so very nice to him.

'We will show them that height doesn't matter. Being tall has it's strong points, but being on the short side isn't completely void of opportunity. A tree is tall, but when you cut it down at the base it's own weight will start aiding in it's descent.'

He just hoped that logic would help in the game.


	86. Chapter 86

FASH: Kyaa! Today is Sena's birthday! To celebrate let's have a longer than normal chapter! And then we can finally get on to the Kyoshin game, which I'll actually bother writing in detail.

""-speech

''-thoughts

The following morning Sena slowly made his way to school, still unable to shake the bad feeling he'd had last night after Komusubi had disappeared. As he neared the clubhouse Monta caught sight of his scuffling and was quick to ask him what was up.

"I'm just a bit worried about Komusubi-kun, that's all." Sena replied before pausing mid-step. "Hey do you hear that rumbling noise?"

They both turned to face the source of the noise, eyes widening and jaws dropping when they saw Kurita running straight at them.

"This is terrible! Komusubi-kun ran away from home!"

They jumped back quickly to get out of the way and landed, sprawled out on the ground as they looked up at the second year worriedly.

"Ran away?" Sena repeated.

"But I thought he was staying at your house Kurita-san."

Kurita worriedly pulled a slip of paper out from his pocket, fumbling with it nervously. "He left this note." He flipped it around to show them and the Huh Huh Brothers, who had just recently arrived, gathered around to look at it too.

"So sudden?" Sena questioned slowly, trying to make sense of the two words written out on the paper.

Kurita turned the paper back to himself. "Dear friends, thanks for everything. Please forgive me for leaving so suddenly."

"He didn't write all that!" Kuroki loudly replied.

"Even his words are power-speak, huh?"

"Now's not the time to worry about power-speak! Come on, I bet Hiruma-san will know where Komusubi went off to." Monta said as he waved everyone into the clubhouse.

But Hiruma didn't know, which ultimately made the panic levels rise to heights never seen before.

Mamori was quick to phone his house to see if he had stopped by but received a negative on that account, and by the time she was done with her phone call Hiruma had already started to make wanted posters.

"I'll take a jog and check the neighbourhood!" Sena said as he stepped out the door, Monta and Suzuna following after him, claiming that they'd come along too.

"I'll try searching from above, we might find him quicker from a bird's eye view." Monta explained to him as he rushed over to a group of particularly tall trees.

"I'll call up my brother to see what's taking him so long to get here and then we'll hand out fliers. Sena, take care of the ground level searching!" Suzuna called as she whipped out her phone and turned to skate down a different street, Sena nodding in agreement.

'I'll scour the town on foot.' He began the accelerate now that he was alone, making sure to keep a sharp eye out for his missing team mate. 'Komusubi-kun may be short, but he can still do a lot! Or else he wouldn't have been able to survive on the line so far, or even make it through the Death March. Someone's going to need to tell Mizumachi-kun that he needs to watch what he says around people, he's so insensitive.'

His cell phone began to ring and he reached into his pocket and flipped it open hopefully.

"Hello?"

"Fucking shrimp, don't bother coming back for class, I've already had everyone's teachers _agree_ that looking for a missing team mate is more important than their lessons. So don't stop searching, I won't accept any excuse except for death!"

"Understood, Hiruma-san." Sena responded seriously before flipping his phone shut.

They searched all morning, afternoon and well into the evening, sometimes Sena would come across some of the others and would pause to ask if they'd had any luck. Each reply was a no, and by the third time he'd crossed paths with Kurita and Yukimitsu the larger second year looked about ready to burst into tears at any given moment.

By the time the sun had started setting Sena had long since stopped running, feeling way too tired than to do much more than shuffle around despite his wish to keep going fast like he had during the morning.

He was on the phone with Mamori, who informed him that Doburoku would be going around to see all of Komusubi's relatives to try and find a clue to his whereabouts, when he caught sight of a familiar silhouette on a hill near a tree.

A silhouette that appeared to be holding a noose.

"He's going to hang himself!" He all but shouted into the phone and before he knew it he was already surging forward at top speed up the hill.

"Komusubi-kun! Stop!" He yelled as he leapt at the other boy in the hopes of bowling him over.

Komusubi, though slightly startled, easily remained on his feet as Sena rammed into him.

Sena took a moment to catch his breath before gazing at the other boy.

"You're amazing, no doubt about it!" He exclaimed and the other boy gave him a questioning look.

"You're trained to block, not like us backs. Komusubi-kun, you and the others act as incredible shields. You do know that, right?" Sena asked just as Kurita began bounding up the hill, followed by various other Devil Bats,

"Wahhh! Thank goodness! Komusubi-kun!" The older lineman was crying in relief.

"Is anyone hurt?" Mamori asked in concern as she made their way towards them, sending Sena a curious look. "I heard something about... Hanging?"

"Uh, that problem's been resolved." Sena responded, running a hand through his hair before his attention snapped back on to Komusubi.

"Come on Komusubi! Come back with us!" Monta was saying and Sena nodded along with him.

"We aren't the Devil Bats without you!"

The rumbling of engines caused Monta's attention to wander down to the bottom of the hill.

"Huh?" He questioned aloud and Sena turned to see Juumonji, Kuroki and Toganou beginning to make their way up the hill. "I don't think they had their bikes at school."

'Then they must have gone to get them so they could look for Komusubi-kun! Why do they look so broody even though he's been found?'

Sena let out a muffled shriek when Juumonji swung his fist at Komusubi.

"What the big idea?!" Kuroki demanded as he and Toganou joined in on the beating.

"Die scum!"

"What's with this 'I'm a nuisance' crap?! You think we can beat Kyoshin without you?" Juumonji inquired roughly as a dust could began to form.

"T... Training!" Komusubi exclaimed, easily sending the three other boys flying.

"Woah, he's back to normal!" Monta concluded before patting Sena on the shoulder. "Hey Sena, about that training you were thinking about."

"What about it?"

"I think I know what you were thinking about. Just leave all the preparations of it to me, we'll be ready to train in a way to beat Kyoshin tomorrow."

"That's amazing Monta!"

Or not so amazing, as he found out the following day during practice.

"Monta... This wasn't what I was thinking at all." He blatantly told the boy when he suggested he go up on Sena's shoulders to imitate Kyoshin's height and speed technique. "Besides, if you were on my shoulders I'm not sure if I could walk, let alone run."

"Really?" Monta looked like someone had kicked his puppy. "But I already glued the wig to my helmet."

"... You bought a wig for this?" Sena asked incredulously. "Never mind, what's important is a tall person's weight can be used against them."

"It can?" Monta asked with wide eyes. "How?"

Sena stumbled around for a good example for a moment. "Well, you know how in sumo wrestling, when they first charge, if they do it too slowly they'll be pushed back?"

"Yeah..."

"Well, if a tall guy can get tripped up when he first charges it'll take him a bit longer than someone shorter to get ready. So we've got to hit 'em before they're ready!"

"And show them the bigger they are, the harder they fall?" Monta questioned. "Alright, sounds good! Physical size, deadly technique and speed won't matter! We'll kick their buts!"

"S-Sumo!" Komusubi interrupted, pointing over at someone Hiruma had roped into helping them practice.

"Awesome, maybe he'll be able to help us!" Sena jogged over to him, not wanting to think too hard about the 'coincidence' of someone from the sumo club being around at this very moment.

But as it turned out the person from the sumo club, Omosadake, thought it would be too much of a pain to try and teach them. But the confrontation wasn't completely useless, since he informed Sena about a small tournament that would be happening the day before their match against Kyoshin.

"It's great! We'll be able to try it for real! Are you up to it Komusubi-kun?" Sena asked and Komusubi nodded.

The day of the Deimon Shopping Mall Sumo Tournament finally came along and Sena, Monta, Komusubi and Suzuna made their way over to where it was being held. They caught sight of the prize for the winner, a whopping two hundred thousand yen worth of fireworks.

"Oh! I'd want that! Go for it guys!" Suzuna said to cheer them on as Sena found a tournament bracket, looking at the names with wide eyes.

"Uh, guys? You might not believe this, but the top seed, reigning champion is-"

"And waiting in the final round will be seven time winner, Oujou High School's Otawara Makoto!"

"Whaaaat?" Monta screeched loudly and the older boy turned to the source of the noise curiously.

"Wahaha! Whaddaya know? It's the first year Deimon boys! Fall tournament quarterfinals are tomorrow and you're here? You got time for sumo?"

"You too! You too!" Monta replied, pointing a finger at the large boy. "Are you sure you have time for this?"

"Of course, I always have time for this!" Otawara replied with a dangerous looking smile.

"He's so scary." Sena began as he turned away.

"Even more so than in football!" Monta finished, running a hand through his hair nervously. "But hey, it's not like we're going to make it all the way to the end, right? Maybe Komusubi'll face 'im, but I don't think we'll be able to make it too far. Thankfully."

Sena nodded in agreement, biting his lip nervously. 'I hope Komusubi-kun does well.'

In his first match Sena was set to go up against Monta, he hadn't thought it would be too hard since he was fairly good at dodging, but he had recklessly forgotten to keep inside the boundaries.

Komusubi did quite well in his first match, slamming into his opponent with a practised ease.

The next match, strangely enough, featured Omosadake, who Sena would have figured a tournament was too much of a pain to participate in, against a tall, lanky sort of man.

The tall guy won easily, using a move that seemed similar to a karate chop to bring the high schooler down.

"I'm number one!" He shouted, as if it were some sort of great victory he had just achieved.

'Well, bad attitude aside, he's the perfect opponent to go up against Komusubi-kun.' Sena crossed his fingers. 'Meet in the semi-final, meet in the semi-final.'

The tournament went on, Monta went up against the tall guy only to be defeated in a way similar to Omosadake, and then it was Komusubi's turn to face him.

"Just pretend that guy's Mizumachi and get your game face on!" Monta called out from the sidelines.

Komusubi got into position and instantly rushed towards the man as soon as the match began, bashing right into his mid-section. The taller man lost his breath for several moments before moving to loom over Komusubi, as if to try and crush him with his weight.

His plan backfired though, when Komusubi was not only able to bear his weight, but also throw him out of the ring.

"Incredible! He's only four foot eleven, but Komusubi advances to the championship bout!"

The final match, however, was stopped before it was started when it turned out Otawara forgot to put on his belt and suffered a loss by total self exposure.

Sena was fairly certain he and Suzuna were never going to be able to look the older boy in the eye again, although Suzuna seemed especially distraught by the sight.

At least the knowledge that she could light up a bunch of fireworks cheered her up.

After the tournament they made it back to school where Hiruma put them through a play-card memory test that Mamori had to mark all alone because Doburoku hadn't come back yet.

He also didn't have a cell phone or any other way for anyone to contact him, something he really should have thought of before going off on his journey to find the still-in-town Komusubi.

After the test Sena received a strange text, most parts of it in English with some random kanji scattered throughout for good measure, from Jeremy Watt of the NASA Aliens. Apparently he had played against Kakei when he was the ace of Phoenix Junior High and Kakei had been able to stop him every time using his height and long reach.

'Well, that's reassuring, and Kakei-kun has obviously become even more amazing over time.' Sena flipped his phone shut.

"Anyone else feel like lighting up some of those fireworks?" He asked, not at all surprised when Suzuna jumped into the air with a resounding 'yes!'

They brought the lot of them outside, sending curious looks at a rather large one with 'Dead' written on a skull on the side.

"It says 'bursting with danger. Do not use within half a mile of any object'." Yukimitsu read off of the side.

"There's no such place in Tokyo!" The Huh Huh Brothers said in unison as Mamori gently took the large firecracker from Yukimitsu, her hands sliding over top of his a little longer than was strictly necessary.

"Let's not light this one." She said as she put it off to the side.

"That sounds like Hiruma-san's sort of firecracker." Monta said dryly. "The big flash ones are nice and all, but..." He took a small firecracker from the pile and lit it, tossing into the air casually. "I like the spinners. They're small and just spin around on the ground so they don't make the same impact as the bigger skyrockets. But after they spin all over they finish with a bang!" He lifted up his eyes to look at both Komusubi and Sena.

"I think that's cool, don't you?"

"Yeah, even though they're small, they get the job done. Like us." Sena smiled at his two companions. "Tomorrow let's show Kyoshin just what pip-squeaks like us can do."

"Alright, sound like a plan!"

"A-Agreed!"

And then, after several instances involving aforementioned spinners a certain dangerous firecracker was lighted, an explosion occurred and the school caught on fire.

But Hiruma had everything under control, so it wasn't too important.

'Good thing he has blackmail on everyone, otherwise this could have gotten us disqualified.'

Good old Hiruma, always putting his hard eared knowledge to work.

The following morning Sena had been scurrying around the bench under the guise of being a good secretary so that Mamori didn't begin to think that he was slacking. But most importantly to make sure that Mizumachi and Kakei saw him doing stuff around the sidelines before the game begun so that his alibi seemed more concrete.

He'd been moving around the water bottles when a shadow fell over him, but figuring it was just Mamori coming to make sure he was putting everything in the right place he ignored it at first.

Then whoever was casting the shadow coughed into their fist and Sena belatedly realized that Mamori wouldn't be able to cast such a long shadow at this time of day.

He quickly turned around, trying not to look too nervous or guilty.

"Kakei-kun, how have you been?" He managed to ask without stuttering once.

"I've been well, thank you." Kakei replied politely. "i just decided to come over and," He paused for just a moment, as if he was unsure what to say, "wish you luck with you're management duties. May the best team win."

Kakei held out a hand and for a moment Sena wondered what he was reaching for until he realized he was supposed to shake it.

Sena slipped his hand inside Kakei's grasp and shook it lightly as he stared into the other boy's eyes.

"May the best team win." He repeated, for some unfathomable unable to tear his gaze away.

Then he heard cheering from the other side of the stadium, indicating Kyoshin's cheerleaders had come up, but he wasn't interested enough to look over until he heard Monta choke in surprise.

Sena's eyes slowly broke away from Kakei's to stare at the other side of the field and it was only sheer willpower that kept his jaw from dropping.

Kakei followed his gaze and lifted a hand to his temple in frustration. "What's that fool doing?"

'Mizumachi-kun... Is wearing Poseidons' cheerleading outfit...' And it was so obviously Mizumachi too, he wasn't trying to hide the fact that it was him or anything.

Sena watched, feeling a little numb, as Mizumachi artfully flipped over to a group of four cheerleaders who'd been standing in a square, the uniform slipping off him easily during his acrobatic performance and leaving him in his boxers.

He landed in the girls' arms and was then hefted into the air, once again doing an amazing production in mid-air before landing in a handstand.

The crowd went crazy and Mizumachi grinned.

"Yo, Devil Bats! See that? With height as our weapon we'll sweep Deimon away. This is a declaration of war!"

Sena had begun inching away, even as Komusubi approached the blonde challengingly.

"Well, I'd better go make sure all our guys are ready." He said quickly, rushing away before Kakei got the chance to distract him with his eyes again.

He'd just entered the inside of the stadium on his way to the changing rooms when a voice made him stop.

"What the hell was that? You were gazing into that guy's eyes like some kind of love sick twit."

Sena turned to the side, hoping that the absence of a bright light source would help hide his blush.

It didn't.

"And now you're blushing! Don't tell me you're getting it on with a player from one of your enemy teams."

"Agon-san!" Sena retaliated, aghast, his blush turning darker. "How could you say something like that?"

"Well that's what it seemed like." The dread head replied with a shrug of his shoulders before he pushed himself away from the wall he'd been leaning on.

"You should watch out for how you act around people, they could get the wrong idea really easily."

Sena huffed and crossed his arms. "Not everyone thinks the same way you do Agon-san."

"But there are plenty of people who do. Which is why you need to watch it." The older boy replied curtly. "Man, I come all the way over here to watch your game, and what do I see you doing? Flirting with some-"

"I wasn't flirting!" Sena interrupted. "I never flirt, with anyone, _eve__r_."

"Good." Agon replied with a smirk.

"What kind of spectator just hides away in the shadows anyways? If anyone's giving off the wrong idea about something it's you. You're like a stalker or something."

Agon looked a little affronted, but the look was quickly overpowered by aggitation.

"The people in the stands are fucking annoying. I don't like to be surrounded by people who piss me off, so unless you want me to go into the stands and knock a dozen or so people out-"

"Okay, I get it, no need to go into detail." Sena raised up a hand, indicating him to stop. "I've got to go change into my uniform, try not to freak anyone out with your shadowed looming."

"Che, taking the fun out of everything. I'll scare people if I want." Agon replied and Sena, who was running out of time, just shook his head in exasperation before sprinting off to the change rooms.

'Agon-san just keeps getting weirder as time goes on.'


	87. Chapter 87

FASH: God, it feels like I haven't updated in forever, sorry about that! Alright, here's the beginning of the Kyoshin game! I feel a bit out of practice after not having and skimming through games, but hopefully I'll get back in the groove.

""-speech

''-thoughts

Sena reached the change rooms in record time and swiftly began going through the familiar motions of undressing, allowing his mind to wander.

'Today's game is going to be pretty tough. I wonder how we'll hold up.' He slipped out his pants and began digging through his duffle bag for all of his protective equipment.

'And Kakei-kun's probably going to glare at me during the whole game.' He sighed. 'I should reveal myself to everyone soon so I don't have to go through something like this, being treated nicely and unpleasantly by the same person, again.'

He slipped the jersey over his head, pursing his lips together at the thought of how Kakei treated him so differently.

'All this worrying about how Kakei-kun treats me is going to stress me out. After the game today I'm going straight home to curl up with Pitt, I think I could use some therapeutic purring.'

By the time he finished changing and rushed back out to the field, ignoring the Agon shaped shadow on his way, he was in time to see Kyoshin's fans beginning to do the wave of all things. He stared for a moment, wondering why they'd do something like that before the game even started. Thankfully he wasn't the only one a little weirded out by the occurrence, as Monta asked aloud why they were doing it before the game.

"Kyoshin's mascot is Poseidon, God of the sea. That's probably the link." Yukimitsu explained before catching sight of Sena and waving him over. "Doburoki-sensei is back."

"Really, where?" Sena asked, eyes quickly darting around to search out the man and widening when they landed on him.

Doburoku looked quite worse for wear. His hair was tangled, he was breathing oddly, he looked like he hadn't bathed in ages, and was that a pig roaming around beside him?

"Is he alright?" He asked in concern. 'He wasn't even gone for an entire week, how did he manage to get this bad?'

"Depends on how you define 'alright'." Monta muttered before his attention caught on something else. "Ah, Kyoshin's guys are all coming onto the field now!"

Sena's eyes flickered over to see the lot of them making their way onto the field, all their tall players in the front.

"Woah, they're tall." He muttered despite himself and the knowledge that Kyoshin had players like that.

"Yeah. Even though I knew they were, when they're all lined up with their helmets on, like a huge wall, it's kind of amazing." Monta said from beside him. "Or rather, freaky to the max."

"It's the Devil's versus the Gods of the sea. Let's get clear on who's the strongest." Hiruma spoke up, sending a narrow glance in Sena, Komusubi and Monta's direction.

"It's not the tallest team that wins, it's the team that plays the best." He finished and Sena, as he nodded in conformation, couldn't help but think that it was the closest thing to a pep talk Hiruma would probably ever give them.

'This game is going to be good.' He told himself as he strode onto the field, already aware that Kakei's glare was pinned on him without even having to look at the other boy. 'It's time to prove that we're not all talk.'

The game started out fairly good for them. Sena had been able to advance the ball on the first play and again during their second play when Komusubi, thanks to his impromptu sumo lesson, had been able to act quickly enough to push Mizumachi back so that Sena could squeeze through.

Then Mizumachi decided to get serious. The next time around he moved into his swim stance and he was notably more silent, an air of concentration seeming to settle around him.

'It's time to see if his jump start, learned from swimming, is a match for the quick start Komusubi-kun learned from sumo.' Sena tensed the muscles in his legs, ready to spring forward as soon as the play began.

At the first sign of movement from the line Sena dashed forward to take the ball from Hiruma, eyes keenly looking at the warring pair on front of him and belatedly realizing that it was rather one sided.

Komusubi, despite his training to take down Mizumachi and his being on offence, still couldn't quite compare to the boy who'd obviously spent a lot of time perfecting his jump start.

Mizumachi had broken through Komusubi's defence and tackled Sena to the ground before the smaller boy could think to evade.

He stared down at the turf, feeling rather dazed until Mizumachi thankfully began to move off of him and he managed to snap himself back to attention. Mizumachi's tackle wasn't extremely painful in a certain area like Shin's tended to be, but the blonde, being as tall as he was, was rather heavy and Sena found it hard to breath while underneath him.

He'd have to watch out for that sort of thing. The last thing he needed in this game was to pass out due to lack of oxygen. He could just imagine Kakei somehow bringing up how the real Eyeshield would have never passed out for such a reason, all the while glaring down at him like he was at this very moment.

He stood up and ignored the look. 'Time to go on defence, huh?' He cast a look to his side to see how Komusubi was handling the current situation.

Not very well by the looks of things, but Sena wasn't going to let him get all melancholy all over again.

"Let's take back that ball!" He urged determinedly and Monta, seeming to catch on to his plan, moved to stand beside him. "He got through by chance. We just need to set up a solid defensive wall!"

"Yeah! We decided right? The Deimon Pipsqueaks are going on a rampage!" Monta continued and Komusubi nodded vigourously in agreement.

"All right, let's go, pipsqueaks!" Monta hollered before moving quickly back into place before Hiruma could get angry with them.

Though the mini motivational speech had certainly raised their spirits, that didn't make going up against Mizumachi any easier. He appeared to easily move Komusubi out of the way to make room for Kyoshin's running back and although Monta and Sena had rushed toward him to try and close up the gap he just as easily dealt with them as well.

Their running back had managed to gain forty four yards before Hiruma of all people brought him down.

Hiruma, of course, was not happy with the situation at all.

"Wake up you fucking pipsqueaks! If you let Mizumachi demolish you, these play cards I had you memorize aren't worth crap!" He yelled as he threw the aforementioned cards at them like ninja stars.

Sena had never been more afraid of getting a paper cut in his life.

But alas, there were much more important things to worry about than paper cuts, like Mizumachi's strength and tendency to say rather distressing things.

"You ought to be replaced! Immediately!" He began as he towered over Komusbi, a self assured smile on his face. "Like I told you. A tiny lineman is like a hole!"

Sena frowned at the comment, but thankfully Komusubi didn't seem to be swayed by Mizumachi's words.

"I... Won't run!" He declared to the taller boy and Sena felt quite proud of his team mate for going up against Mizumachi and his inconsiderate statements like that.

"Yokozuna delivery!" A startling voice suddenly shouted out from the sidelines. "Compliments of a manly man!"

Sena turned and stared at the couple that had appeared beside the bench.

"It's Komusubi-kun's mom and dad." He noted aloud.

"Yeah, I can see that!" Monta replied, eyes bulging. "They certainly make an interesting pair."

Mamori moved to greet them, eyeing the cases the elder Komusubi was holding warily.

"Thank you very much for the thought..." She began slowly. "But sake is a bit-"

"Sake?!" Doburoku suddenly sat up from where he'd bee lying prone on the bench, apparently brought back to life by the promise of the alcoholic beverage.

"Well, at least he's back." Yukimitsu remarked dryly as Doburoku shuffled over to where the cases had been set down.

The elder Komusubi male, now that his arms weren't full, allowed his attention to swiftly move over to his son who seemed to be trying to ignore him.

"Daikichi!" He called out loudly and his son swivelled around to face him. "What weapon do we Komusubi men have? Speed? Height? Wrong, you dummy! It's the strong arms of a delivery-man! Show 'em what you've got!"

As Komusubi seemed to be digesting his father's words Monta turned to look at Sena, his eyebrows furrowed.

"I get that Komusubi is strong like his dad and all. But the way he phrased it made it sound like strong arms were he... Here..."

"Hereditary." Sena helpfully supplied.

"Yeah!"

"Let's not worry about that now though Monta." Sena said with a wave of his hand before he felt his shoulder being tapped.

He and Monta both turned around to see a rather determined looking Komusubi.

"My... Strength!" Was all the younger boy said before dashing back to his normal place in the line.

"Did he think up something? Maybe his father's comment about his arms gave him an idea." Sena commented, not for the first time wishing that he could understand the power-speak Komusubi tended to talk in.

"I hope so, cause they've got just a few more yards to go until they get a touchdown." Monta replied as they moved into place.

At the snap Komusubi moved forward quickly as he had many times before, although this time, instead of trying to push Mizumachi back, he began to duck under the taller boy and push up with his elbow in a rip maneuver.

Mizumachi, although slightly surprised initially, was quick to react by pinning Komusubi's arm. However, by using the rip and the speed of his charge Komusubi had forced Mizumachi into a battle of strength.

And when it came to battles of strength, Komusubi didn't lose.

He was able to fling Mizumachi away and throw himself at the running back, forcing the offensive player to lose his grip on the ball.

Sena rushed forward through the gap Komusubi had made and flicked the hand of his outstretched arm to propel the falling ball back into the air. And from there Monta dashed forward and jumped, grabbing onto the ball and holding it to him securely as he descended to the ground.

"_The Deimon Pipsqueaks have taken the ball!_"


	88. Chapter 88

FASH: Geez, less than a week to go until I'm back in school. Sadness. But by that time we'll be in volume 15. Yay.

""-speech

''-thoughts

It seemed that, by gaining possession of the ball, Deimon had forced Kyoshin's playing style to become just as aggressive as their own. During the next play Mizumachi had managed to use The Swim to break though Komusubi's defence and rush towards Hiruma in an attempted sack. Hiruma quickly tossed the ball to the side for an incomplete pass. This did little to dishearten Komusubi though, who was more than ready to prove himself as an efficient lineman. And he wasn't the only one revved up and raring to go.

The Deimon Pipsqueaks were gonna tear down the size barrier.

But it was not going to be easy.

Getting past Mizumachi was just the first step in advancing the ball, lying in wait behind the blonde was a very tenacious Kakei and his two self proclaimed 'pupils'.

Onishi and Ohira also happened to be appallingly tall, both of them just several inches away from being seven feet in height.

'Did these guys all just drink a lot of milk as kids, or am I missing out on some sort of super growth serum?' Sena thought as he tried to make light of the situation. Because if Onishi and Ohira were Kakei's 'pupils' then they would most definitely follow whatever course of action Kakei plotted out for them, and most likely share the same sentiments.

He was going to have to work hard in order to not get crushed, one wrong move and a tackle from one of those guys could prove to be quite disastrous to his health.

With the tall defensive trio's 'High Wave' in action Hiruma's passing was effectively shut down and Mizumachi was once again dashing towards the quarterback.

Hiruma quickly made a lateral to Sena who rushed forward to advance the ball, both Ishimaru and Taki running ahead of him to block off any attempts to stop Sena's progress.

They hadn't expect Onishi and Ohira would be able to take them down so easily, leaving Sena susceptible to Kakei's tackle.

And, apparently to add insult to injury, Kakei decided to talk down to him as Sena wobbly stood himself up.

"Hey, Fake-san." He began, the honorific doing nothing to disguise the venom in his voice. "As long as I'm tackling in this game, I won't let you score a single touchdown." His eyes flickered to Deimon's bench for a moment, as if searching for something. His frown deepened when he apparently could not find it. "If you think you can pass me, go ahead. That is, if you really have what it takes to be called Eyeshield twenty one."

He gave Sena one final glaring before turning to go back to his team mates.

'Kakei-kun is practically bipolar sometimes.' He mused to himself. 'I definitely have to prove myself, I don't think I can stand much more of this being completely and utterly loathed business.'

Sena moved into position, once again trying to ignore the glare he knew was being sent his way.

'Even if Kakei-kun doesn't even like me by the end of the game I'd rather not have all this animosity directed at me. I at least want to get to the point where he can tolerate me.'

Otherwise he'd never feel comfortable around the taller boy, Kakei would notice, he'd wonder why Sena was so skittish around him and then somehow with some amazing observational skills he would find out everything. And then Sena would have to deal with all of this disdain even when he wasn't on the field!

The next play brought Kyoshin to the lead, Kobanzame having run with the ball into the end zone himself after Mizumachi flattened Yamaoka and made space for the quarterback to get through. Then their kick for the extra point conversion was successful.

The game was seven to zero in Kyoshin's favour.

Deimon gain possession of the ball once again, but they seemed to be going nowhere fast.

After Sena was tackled by Kakei once again Monta approached him, casting Kakei a suspicious look as he held out a hand to help Sena up.

"Dude, is it just me, or does that guy really have it in for you?" He asked bluntly. "I heard him talking to you a while ago, the tone of his voice sounded pretty mean. What's up with that?"

Sena joined his index fingers together sheepishly. "You heard that?"

"Even if I didn't hear, he's always glaring at you. What going on?"

"Well, the truth is... There's another Eyeshield 21 that Hiruma-san named me after, and Kakei-kun met him and saw him play and thinks he's amazing. Me, not so much. So he just sort of despises me because I'm a fake and I'm not as good as the real one and I'm short... That's pretty much it."

"What? Why didn't you say something about it then? We're buddies right? So you can talk to me about anything, I don't think any less of you because Hiruma-san gave you a name that was already in use. Besides, if little ol' you can beat big ol' Kakei, then there's no problem, right?" Monta said in the matter-of-fact tone he sometimes took whenever he felt particularly passionate about something without feeling the need to go overboard.

"As for the rest of the pests, like those two super tall dudes, we'll take care of it somehow! You just give it to Kakei, a guy like that deserves no mercy!"

"Monta..." Sena trailed off, not sure how to tell Monta that Kakei wasn't really that bad of a guy.

Then Hiruma sauntered over, a large grin on his face.

"So, you two chumps wanna give your first Sena-Mon combination play a shot?" He asked, because Hiruma always had a scheme or two that no one else knew about until they needed to.

"Huh?" The two first years answered brightly.

"It's gonna be totally different from what Deimon's done before. It'll be a revolutionary offence move! Turn into a bird, and you won't be drowned by the high waves."

For a fleeting moment Sena had the terrifying feeling that Hiruma was going to order him to Devil Bat Dive over the High Wave that, adding up arm extension and jumping, probably could reach over nine feet.

'Please no. Please, please, please!'

"It's the Devil Bat's new formation. The Wishbone!"

Sena let out a silent sigh of relief.

Hiruma had gathered everyone together to explain the new formation, and he was apparently quite eager to see it in action, even though no one had practised it before.

Of course with Hiruma, that was a bad excuse.

"You bums will never learn it unless you try! So take your damn positions!" He commanded them, shooting around their feet to get them moving faster.

For a moment Sena felt murderous intent and he quickly looked around to see if Kakei was glowering at him. He was surprised to see that the tall boy was instead watching Mizumachi do some cheering with an exasperated look on his face.

'Then where is... Oh.'

It seems Agon wasn't very happy with the thought of Hiruma shooting at him, either that or the blonde had done something else to piss him off, because the barely visible Agon was glaring daggers at the quarterback.

Sena supposed he should be grateful that Agon thought he was worthy enough to watch over, but sometimes he really wished Agon could just be a little less evil.

Hiruma seemed to notice the glare he was on the receiving end of too, because he turned to the side slightly and smirked, obviously picking a fight.

'I hope those two don't start fighting once the game's over, I can only take so much stress in one day.' Sena moved into position, willing himself to forget Agon's protective vigilance and concentrate on their new formation.

The Wishbone, named that way due to the shape it took from a bird's eye view, was a combination play that put a lot of the other stuff they had practised to shame. It consisted of three runners who could carry the ball, Monta, Sena and Ishimaru.

'Alright, let's see how we can do the first time around!'

The play began and at first Hiruma faked a run before passing it off to Sena, he and Ishimaru getting close enough to block Mizumachi and Ohira while Monta ran alongside Sena to deal with any other players they'd need to watch out for.

They managed to get twenty yards before Sena was knocked down.

'Not too bad for our first try.' Sena glanced over at Monta and smiled, the other boy noticing quickly and smiling back.

During the next play they used The Wishbone again and this time around Mizumachi went straight for Sena as soon as he managed to break through the line.

Hiruma then promptly passed the ball to Ishimaru, who gained six yards before being stopped.

'If they try and stop Ishimaru-san, Hiruma-san takes the ball and runs, then if they try and stop Hiruma-san, he passes it off to Monta and I. With three patterns at once, even they'll have a hard time predicting our movements.'

On their next play Hiruma managed to get a touchdown, and although their extra point conversion attempt was unsuccessful, they were now only trailing behind by one point.

Kyoshin wasn't able to keep possession of the ball the next time around and soon enough Sena found himself going one on one with Onishi, the second tallest player in high school football.

Sena, although admittedly freaked out at the thought of getting tackled by such a huge guy, knew he wouldn't have to worry about it. Kurita and Komusubi had made plenty of space to manoeuvre around in, and although Onishi used the same moves as Kakei, he wasn't quite as good at them as the blue eyed boy.

He was able to advance the ball a good dozen yards before two Kyoshin players managed to take him down, and with that the first half came to an end.

"Six to seven! One more touchdown in the second half and we'll be ahead!" Monta exclaimed excitedly, pumping one fist into the air.

"We're pressing them hard! The Wishbone play is amazing!" Kurita said joyously .

Hiruma's eyes flickered over to them and he chuckled under his breath, causing a curious Sena to lean in, as if to ask what he was laughing about.

He didn't need to actually vocalize his question though, as Hiruma began to speak without being prompted to.

"It all depends on how far we can take this Wishbone play. That fucking fox-eyes Kakei used to be an American junior high ace. He's not gonna just stand there doing nothing." Hiruma took a sip of water and 'hmm'-ed to himself.

"Speaking of standing and doing nothing, I'm surprised fucking dreads hasn't tried coming over here and picking a fight yet." He cocked an eyebrow at Sena.

"What? Maybe Agon-san has learned some self restraint."

Hiruma snorted and rolled his eyes. "Yeah right. I bet he just knows that if he tried anything you'd end up in the middle of everything and we'd both have to stop. Meddlesome kid."

"Well, someone has to keep you two from killing each other. I guess I'm just the lucky person that job was given to. Anyways," he took a final gulp of his water before moving away from the bench. "I'm going to warm up my muscles a bit."

He'd been doing some leg stretches, keeping low to the the ground, when Kyoshin's Ohira, the tallest player in high school football, very nonchalantly stepped over him.

Over him, like he was a dog in the way or something.

'It doesn't matter, height doesn't matter.' Sena repeated to himself as he finished his stretching, trying not to think about Ohira's stunt too much.

Komusubi had proven his worth to Mizumachi, and now it was time for Sena to prove his to Kakei and, by extension, Kakei's pupils.


	89. Chapter 89

FASH: It's back to school with me tomorrow, so I'll be going back to my normal updating schedule of every Sunday. At least it's not too long of a wait for the next chapter, and then I can finally finish the Kyoshin game!

""-speech

''-thoughts

This was perhaps going to be a little tougher than he had originally thought.

They had all figured that with The Wishbone in play and everyone on the line blocked one on one Sena would be able to burst through with a Devil Bat Ghost and they'd make a comeback victory. It seemed to be working out just fine too, because none of the Kyoshin players were making a move to stop him.

Even when Kakei began to loom in front of him Sena had felt fairly confident that he'd be able to pass by and score a touchdown.

He started making a sharp turn to the right, not expecting one of Kakei's long arms to come around him and pull him off course.

He was tackled to the ground swiftly and he felt his breath catch in his throat.

'Kakei's bigger physique mean he has a longer defensive reach, but... He stopped me so easily.'

It was rather disheartening, to have his Devil Bat Ghost defeated by Kakei right after promising to himself that he'd prove his worth to the aforementioned boy.

"The outcome of this game is already decided." Kakei said as he lifted himself off of the ground, there was less venom in his voice than usual, but that did nothing to make Sena feel better.

He hadn't even been able to face Shin with his Devil Bat Ghost yet, and it had already been stopped.

'This does not bode well, at all.'

The next time Kyoshin had possession of the ball their number ninety eight kicker managed to get a successful field goal, bringing their score up by another three points.

The third quarter was practically over, and Deimon still hadn't been able to make their comeback, and Sena was under the terrifying impression that Kyoshin had figured out The Wishbone's weak point.

Kyoshin's players kept on stopping everyone but him, which ultimately lead to a one on one battle with Kakei, since Monta's presence beside him meant that the passing offence had been thinned out so Kyoshin could focus on stopping his run.

And that, of course, ultimately lead to Sena getting crushed by Kakei.

He had just begun picking himself up from the ground after becoming re-aquatinted with the turf when a flurry of movement from the sidelines caught his eye.

"Huh, Mamori-san?" Monta questioned, looking at the girl waving madly at them with wide eyes.

After being assured that she had their attention Mamori proceeded to do... Something on the sidelines, a lot of movement that Sena didn't see the point of. He assumed she was trying to tell them something, but couldn't really be certain since he couldn't make sense of any of her gestures.

"Is she cheering?" Kurita asked and Monta immediately leapt into the air.

"Mamori-san! I'll do my best to the max!" He claimed loudly and Mamori turned away, looking quite distraught while Yukimitsu gave her a reassuring pat on the back.

"Uh, I think it was supposed to be a message." Sena dryly told his enthusiastic friend and beside him Hiruma glowered.

"Well, it's not coming across! Fucking manager..." Hiruma trailed off and Sena turned to look at him curiously.

Hiruma quickly whipped his head around to stare at the Kyoshin players and a smirk steadily began to grow on his face.

"Hey, you chumps!" He called as he put his helmet back on. "We're gonna use the same pattern we did just now!"

They got into position and at the snap they began moving the same way as before, something Mizumachi seemed to feel the need to comment on, loudly.

"Persistent, aren't you?" He asked as he began pushing Ishimaru out of the way. "You won't get past Kakei! It's like the only play those idiots know!"

"Yeah, it's the same play." Hiruma answered darkly as Ishimaru was shoved away. "Only I'm not an idiot!"

"A-ha-ha!" Taki's trademark laugh suddenly rang out. "Thank you, my fans, for waiting!" He said as he easily slipped into the open space Kyoshin had made due to their focus on stopping Sena's run.

He caught the ball with his normal amount of unnecessary flair, just seven yards shy of the goal, before he was taken down.

Hiruma chuckled as he swagged over to Kakei. "Hey fucking fox-eyes! You think just because you stopped Eyeshield's runs you've stopped us? We're not a munch of gutless fish, dragged along by one or two geniuses."

"Yeah, you got that right." Mizumachi spoke up, causing Hiruma and Kakei's attention to flicker over to him.

"Mizumachi?"

"The Kyoshin Poseidons don't have any little fish either. We're united to win!" He smiled, although with his eyebrows furrowed the way they were it looked borderline-sinister.

"Kobanzame and the others may not show initiative, but once we started training, they always stuck it out to the end." His gaze shifted and landed on Sena and Monta. "These seniors are in their last year. It's their last tournament." The look on his face switched to being distraught.

"Now you see why we can't lose! There aren't any third year students with you guys, are there?! Sorry, but Deimon's gotta go! You can power up and come back one year later, all right?!"

"One year later?" Sena repeated slowly, eyebrows furrowing as he thought of the second years on the team, and the one who had yet to come back.

"No, it's not alright. Deimon has Hiruma-san, Kurita-san, Yuki-san, next year they won't be allowed to play, so this is their last year too. One year later is out of the question! The Deimon Devil Bats will not lose!" He swiftly turned around and got into position.

'Even if Kakei-kun can stop the Devil Bat Ghost, it doesn't mean I can't find some other way to get past him. In our game against Oujou Shin-san was able to stop my run until the very end of the game.'

During the next play most of the Kyoshin players seemed to be under the impression that Hiruma was going to pass the ball over to Taki again. Never being one to comply to what people thought he was going to do, Hiruma instead gave the ball to Monta for a run.

He managed to get a touchdown just before Onishi tackled him.

Their score was now twelve to ten, they finally managed to pull themselves into the lead with seven minutes to go.

Of course whenever things started going swell for them Kyoshin always seemed to pull another hidden trick out of their sleeves, this time appeared not to be any different.

Mizumachi had moved from the front line to be with the three who made up Kyoshin's High Wave.

"There's Mizumachi, way in the back!" Monta pointed out incredulously. "What gives, why's he back there with all those other huge guys?"

"The dream formation of the four Heavenly Kings, no man may pass through The Poseidon!" Ohira yelled, tears streaming down his cheeks as per usual.

Kakei quickly reminded the three other boys around him to work together, his eyes lingering on Ohira and Onishi several moments longer than usual due to the two boy's usual clashing.

"Yeah! Truth is, we wanted to save this as a secret weapon until we faced the real Eyeshield's team." Mizumachi informed them proudly.

"If we lose this game we're finished. Let's stop bickering over who's the best pupil for awhile and play as a team!" Onishi finished, glasses glinting as he smirked.

"Wh-what-" Sena began uncertainly only to be cut off by an energetic Monta.

"Come on, it doesn't matter! It's too late for them to use some trick play. There's no way you can stop both Deimon's running and passing!"

"Oh yeah? We'll see what happens." Mizumachi said confidently just before the snap.

The four of them charged forward, the strength of their impact was too much for the line to ward off and they almost immediately broke through.

Sena found himself on his stomach with the football he'd been carrying underneath him.

'The High Wave of three was powerful enough. But adding one more has made it phenomenal.'

On their next play Hiruma had tried to pass the ball, but Mizumachi leapt up into the air to cut it off.

"They can block both passes and outside runs, it's really amazing..."

"It's too perfect." Monta commented, crossed his arms and frowning darkly.

"There ain't no such thing as a perfect formation. There's gotta be a hole." Hiruma said cooly, Kurita nodding vigourously by his side.

"That's right guys! There's a hole in the line now that Mizumachi-kun is in the back! It's our chance to burst through the center!"

It was a great idea _in theory, _but in practice it was a whole different story. Just because Sena could manage to slip through the center of the line didn't mean he was scotch-free.

Kakei was in front of him almost as soon as he made his way past the linemen, pushing him down with a single hand.

He had managed to gain two yards, but that did nothing to lower Kyoshin's mood.

"Yeah, no prob! You can have two yards!" Mizumachi said with a grin.

"Now you see, little shield," Kakei began and Sena twitched at the new nick-name. "you can burst through the center all you like. You are indeed fast. But to force through the tight defence you need a certain level of power! That's the difference between you and the real Eyeshield twenty one. You only lack a real physique." He began walking away. "That's your limitation."

'Limitation, eh?' Sena flexed his fingers slightly at the thought. 'Just because I'm short doesn't mean I'm flawed in any way.'

He still had time to prove that to Kakei, he just hoped he'd be able to manage it.

Deimon soon lost possession of the ball and Juumonji seemed to be putting out all the stop to sack Kobanzame by using the Juvenile Delinquent Murder Method on one lineman before attempting to surge past two others.

Kobanzame saw him coming and quickly tossed the ball away to the side, thankfully none of his team mates had been able to rush forward to catch it.

Next time they weren't so lucky.

Juumonji rushed forward again, much like he had the time before, but this time Kobanzame was slightly more prepared and had already caught sight of one of the receivers before he threw the ball.

Kyoshin got another touchdown, they were now five points in the lead with only two minutes left in the game.

They would need to get another touchdown, but no matter how hard they tried no one could seem to get past The Poseidon, and time was steadily ticking away.

'Only eighteen seconds left...'

"Hey, fucking shrimp. Listen up." Hiruma ordered, strolling towards him purposefully. "I don't care if it's impossible or not, you have to get past Kakei."


	90. Chapter 90

FASH: Oh God, ten more chapters and we'll be at one hundred. This thing is like, five hundred pages so far, and we're not even half way through yet. (Dies) And for anyone following Wild, I'll post the next chapter ASAP, but I've got homework to do so I may not finish it until tomorrow night.

""-speech

''-thoughts

"Get past Kakei-kun?" Sena repeated, consequently gaining the attention of his other team mates, and Hiruma narrowed his eyes at him.

"If you take the ball and run, Kakei's sure to come gunning for you one on one."

"If he can get past Kakei, it's a touchdown just like that." Juumonji murmured.

"Let's see, we're five points behind. And there are eighteen seconds left." Taki held up his hand, wiggling his fingers slightly. "A touchdown means six points and a comeback victory!"

"Yeah, right. A hell of a convenient plan..." Kuroki spoke up, Toganou nodding sagely beside him.

"But there's no time left and..." Kurita worried wrung his hands. "... That's the only way."

Sena bit his lip, running over the last couple of times Kakei had tackled him. 'My Devil Bat Ghost doesn't work on him, so I've got to think up something else to throw his way.'

That was way easier said than done.

"If you believe that you can't beat Kakei, there is no sense in trying. We'll just ask Hiruma-san to change the plan." Monta spoke up, furrowing is eyebrows in determination. "Do you know the ace's role on a team? I only know the simple answer: winning. The team's ace can't lose even if it kills him."

There was a pregnant pause before Monta's determined look abruptly became less serious.

"So if you say you can't win, I become Deimon's ace!"

"A-ha-ha! Wrong! The ace is me!" Taki butted in and Sena felt a little exasperated.

'Being an ace has nothing to do with it.'

"It's up to you, fucking shrimp. American junior high ace Kakei, can you beat him or not?"

Sena clenched his fists at his sides. 'If I don't win, Musashi-san won't come back and everyone's collective dream will shatter, there's no way I can lose.'

"I'll beat him." He replied sturdily and Hiruma grinned down at him.

He got into position, his eyes immediately seeking out and staying on Kakei, channelling most of his focus onto him. After the snap Hiruma handed the ball off to him and Sena dashed forward, eyes still locked on Kakei who was already rushing up to him.

'Even if Kakei-kun's reach is amazing, that doesn't mean I can be stopped easily. I trained for this with everyone in America, shortening my step to cut without losing speed.'

"It won't change no matter how many times you try it, fake! Your special little run doesn't work on me!" Kakei yelled as he loomed closer, a hand already reaching out, quickly coming into contact with Sena's shoulder.

At the first graze of Kakei's hand against him Sena pulled away from the hand by spinning and ducking.

Kakei, who'd been expecting to push Sena down with all of his weight, was still travelling forward with his previous momentum and wasn't able to raise up his other hand to block the smaller player off before Sena ducked down even further and disappeared into his blind spot.

Sena keenly observed the field in front of him as he stopped his spinning and began making a beeline for the end zone.

"We're gonna do it. A touchdown, the semi-finals are here." He spoke to himself lowly just before a flash of movement made itself known, moving in from his blind spot.

He turned his head to glance at what it could be and saw Mizumachi just a few steps behind him, already reaching out an arm to take hold of him. Sena pushed his feet against the ground harshly, hoping to gain a bit more momentum, but Mizumachi had grabbed a hold of the end of his jersey and was pulling him down.

'When I used that spin on Kakei-kun, that 0.1 second delay gave Mizumachi-kun to chase after me.' Sena stretched out his arm as far as he could as he slammed against the ground. 'Please make it.'

He heard Hiruma yell something and he slowly lifted his head to look at his outstretched arm.

'Now way... I didn't make it. Just twenty inches, no, just ten inches to a touchdown and a comeback victory.'

He'd put so much thought and concentration into how to get past Kakei that once he managed to do it he'd thought he had nothing else to worry about.

And now there were only two seconds left in the game.

"Th-that was close." Monta commented shakily.

"I waited until the last second on purpose." Hiruma responded calmly without missing a beat. "On our last play we're gonna push through to the goal line for a comeback touchdown! And the game will end right at that moment!"

'Push through? With my physique that may not be such a good idea... But one thing's for sure, I can't get bigger. If I have no chance of matching them physically...' Sena nervously swallowed, hardly able to believe he was about to suggest doing something that he'd been freaked out about earlier on in the game.

"I'll fly over." He spoke up and everyone turned to look at him uncannily.

"Fly... Over? Do you hear what you're saying?" Kuroki asked.

"Kyoshin's line is the tallest in Japan." Toganou added dryly.

"But what else can we do, I mean... We should give it a shot anyways, right?"

"Heh! It don't matter if you can fly over. Just plow through at full speed like a human cannonball. So fly, you fucking shrimp, it's time for the Devil Bat Dive!" Hiruma turned his attention to the rest of his team mates and set his hands on his hips.

"We'll toy with them. Up to the ninth hut is a fake. The tenth is the signal to start. That's when we all push! The fucking shrimp's cannonball and our line will work as one. Everyone got it? Good! Now get into position!"

Sena pursed his lips together, methodically clenching and relaxing the muscles in his legs before completely settling down into his position.

"Hut! Hut!"

"You're no fake," Monta began.

"Hut!"

"Eyeshield twenty one, Kobayakawa Sena style. You show 'em!"

"Hut! Hut! Hut!"

"We're using the hip thruster, right?" Toganou questioned.

"Hut!"

"No mercy. Our last fire work!" Juumonji replied.

"Hut!"

"HAH, I'm fired up!" Kuroki commented, Komusubi grunted in response.

"Hut!"

"We all go the the semi-finals... No! We all go to the Christmas Bowl!" Kurita ground out determinedly.

"Hut!" Hiruma finally went through the ten he'd planned and Sena sprung into action, taking the ball and rushing forward with everything he had until he was just a step away from his own linemen.

The muscles in his legs tensed as he pushed himself up off of the ground with more force than he ever had before. He just prayed it would be enough.

He sailed on to new heights unimpeded until Mizumachi reached up and slapped his hand harshly against Sena's back. Sena began his descent to the ground just as Komusubi rushed towards and pushed back the unsuspecting Mizumachi, who'd been paying more attention to Sena than the linemen below.

Sena landed harshly on his shoulder and rolled a bit, mentally crossing his fingers.

"Touchdown!"

'The goal line, I crossed it, not but much, but I crossed it.' He threw Komusubi a smile. "This time, it's a touchdown!"

"Way to go Sena!" Monta said, giving him a hard pat on the back when Sena sat up, not realizing that Sena took way more time than normal to regain his balance after the hit.

"_The game is over! In the last two seconds, the Deimon Devil Bats make a dramatic comeback and win!_"

Sena stood up, feeling slightly unsteady on his feat. Mizumachi's hit had thrown him a bit more off kilter than he normally would be, and it wasn't like he fell at a particularly easy height either.

"I knew it had it in you, fucking shrimp." Hiruma said once the majority of their team mates weren't around, giving Sena his customary kick to the tailbone.

He frowned when it took Sena longer to recover from it than it should have, the smaller boy nearly falling over several times as he attempted to regain his balance.

"Fuck." Hiruma wrapped an arm around his shoulders, turned him away from the field and held up a hand in front of Sena's face.

"How many fingers am I holding up?"

"Three, why?"

Hiruma quickly removed his arm and stepped back. "Just checking to make sure you can walk without tripping over yourself." He said cooly before quickly striding away.

Sena quirked an eyebrow and smiled slightly before following Hiruma's lead, knowing full-well that his stumbling about had made the blonde more concerned than he would care to admit.

Hiruma was a lot nicer than he let on.

He made it to Monta's side in time to see Mizumachi give Komusubi a firm pat on the back and he could a twinge of pride flicker in him at the sight.

'We've proven that height doesn't matter.'

"Ha- hot!" Komusubi said in response and the blonde turned to him with a smile.

"Yeah. Next year dude!"

"Hot?" Monta repeated slowly.

"What does that mean?" Sena asked and Kurita, who had been nearby, came over to interpret.

"When Komusubi said 'hot' just now he meant: It was indeed a hot battle. I never thought I was handicapped by the size difference. We each have our own respective weapons. That's all..."

At this time Sena's brain started going into over-drive, thinking about how one word could mean so much.

"Wow, all that from one word." Monta said, vocalizing what Sena had been thinking.

The two teams lined up and thanked each other for the game and it took Kakei all of two seconds to approach Sena afterwards.

"Eyeshield twenty one," He began, causing Sena to turn his head so fast he swore he might have gotten whiplash. He knew he shouldn't have been so surprised, his goal had been to make Kakei accept him after all, but he still felt rather shocked and elated.

"You won, hands down. You're the one who decided the outcome of this game."

"Th-thank you..." Sena nervously brought up a hand to rub at his neck. "But you know, only at the end."

"No. At my level now, it would always turn out this way."

"But if we fought again, who knows what-"

"No, there's no way to stop that last run. That was the fastest... I'll start all over again next year, I was too narrow minded. I've only used plays based on power. I became what I am with techniques that take advantage of my height. A player like you with a total opposite type of body being this good is something I never imagined."

Sena stayed silent, his heart awkwardly fluttering when Kakei looked directly at him.

"With your light running style will you beat the real Eyeshield, or will he find a way to beat you? I want to find out. I don't know where he is now, but don't lose until you face him. Keep winning until the end of the tournament!"

"I will!" Sena vowed determinedly. "My team and I are going to make it all the way to the Christmas Bowl, no matter who we face!"

The corner of Kakei's lips quirked up in the ghost of a smile.

"Good luck."


	91. Chapter 91

FASH: Yay, Riku finally gets to show up again! Even though it's only for a little bit. He hasn't been around for a while, poor guy. And Wild, for anyone who cares, is going to be late again due to the homework my teachers feel the need to give me.

""-speech

''-thoughts

Sena, as usual, was the last to finish changing so that his identity wasn't found out by the few people who still didn't know. He'd told the others to go on to see the next game before him, wanting a little time to reminis about the game by himself.

He felt rather cheery about the outcome of the game, not only because they had managed to win, but because now he wouldn't have to worry about Kakei being mean to him. Of course, just because Kakei accepted him didn't mean that other _real _Eyeshield twenty one fans would welcome him with open arms, but he decided to steer his train of thought away from those facts.

'I wonder how many more games we'll have to win until Musashi-san decides to come back?' He certainly hoped not too many, in a really close game having a really good kicker, or having a kicker at all, could be a deciding factor.

After changing into his normal clothes he slipped out of the change room unnoticed, already thinking up the excuse to tell Mamori as to why he hadn't been around for the entire game. Actually, it was always the same excuse, but so far Mamori hadn't questioned why Hiruma always made him record the game from the stands, so he never bothered coming up with another one.

"That was a pretty interesting move you pulled off in the last two seconds." Agon suddenly commented as he appeared to materialize out of thin air right next to Sena. The brunette flinched a bit, but other than that he didn't seem entirely too surprised at Agon's sudden appearance. "How's your shoulder feeling after that?"

"Fine." Sena responded dryly and Agon scowled.

"Well it certainly doesn't seem like it would be fine. You've done that move before, haven't you?"

Sena paused and turned to give Agon a curious look. "How do you know that?"

Had Agon secretly been watching his games before? The only other time he'd done the Devil Bat Dive was during the Taiyo game.

"Before the summer when we had the game against Oujou you hurt your shoulder, you said you did it while doing a new move. You said it was fine then too."

Sena wondered if he should be flattered that Agon remembered this particular information, or freaked out by it.

"Don't worry about it Agon-san. I've lived through it before, I can live through it again."

Agon's frown deepened and Sena could hazard a guess that what was going through Agon's mind at the moment sounded a lot like: 'Stupid kid. The one person I bother caring about the well-being of and he won't let me look him the fuck over to see if he's injured.'

Sena sighed, he didn't want to agitate Agon by ignoring his concerns, and even if he didn't care something told him that if he ignored Agon and went to his team mates the dread-head would follow him. He did not want to deal with a Hiruma versus Agon show-down right after a game, so he relented.

"Fine, you can check over my shoulder yourself." He said as he carefully tugged his shirt over his head. "But don't blame me if someone comes down this way and your reputation as a womanizer is ruined."

"Che. What about your reputation?" Agon asked cooly as he leaned forward to inspect Sena's shoulder, bringing up a hand to lightly run over the area.

"I don't think anyone would be shocked if they saw _me _like this." Sena deducted, wincing a little when Agon's fingers brushed over a particularly tender area. "Although, if it were anyone from my team, they might be kind of surprised it's not Shin-san."

"Oh?" Agon ground out as he pulled away. "And why might that be?"

Sena tugged his shirt back over his head and straightened out the wrinkles before answering.

"No reason."

After 'Doctor Agon' had informed him he'd be fine, just like Sena had said he was, the older boy stalked away and Sena was free to join his team mates in watching the Seibu versus Edomae game.

No one commented on his rather late appearance, all of them seemingly too focused on the game to bother.

Seibu seemed to be unstoppable, so far they'd scored fifty four points and had only given up nine. It didn't take a genius to realize who they were most likely going to meet in the semi-finals.

He hadn't even talked to Riku since the summer because he'd been so busy as of late. It seemed kind of sad that the next time they'd meet each other it would be on the field, and Riku wouldn't even know it was him.

'Maybe I should call him up tonight, try and open up the lines of communication again.'

It was very soon after that he would learn there was no need for that.

When the game ended Suzuna and Mamori had been the first to leave with everyone else following shortly after, trying to keep the girls in their sights as they wandered into the crowd.

Sena had been too short and too surrounded to see the incident, but he clearly heard Mamori give a short cry of pain, to which some voice odiously responded 'you're in my way.'

Surrounded on all sides or not, Sena rushed through the crowd and broke through, narrowed eyes scanning the scene in front of him.

Suzuna was worriedly holding onto Mamori while glaring daggers at a couple of retreating guys.

Sena dug his feet into the ground, ready to speed forward and give a very avant-garde lesson on manners, only to find that someone was beating him to it.

Riku had dashed forward, grabbed onto one the the guy's wrists, Sena assumed it was the perpetrator, and was pulling it behind the guy's back in what seemed to be a very painful fashion.

"Hmm?" Riku began with a decisively nefarious quirk to his lips. "Bumping into a girl and saying 'you're in my way'. You're pathetic!"

Had Sena been a little less virtuous he might have smirked. As it was he made his way to Mamori's side to ensure she was alright.

Riku's eyes trailed the movement unconsciously for a second before they became focussed on him.

"Sena?" He questioned, his eyes trailing down to the girl who he previously hadn't recognized. "Mamori?!"

He twisted the guy's arm just a little harsher than normal, for good measure, before letting him go and speeding over to the older girl who was quickly assuring everyone that she was fine.

"Guys these days, no class at all, eh Sena?" He asked casually as he came to stand beside the brunette, said boy nodding absentmindedly as he had Mamori assure him for the third time that she was alright.

"Because guys with class would call once in a while, right?" He finished and Sena froze, slowly turning to face him with wide, apologetic eyes.

"I am so sorry Riku! I was really busy during the summer and then as soon as we got back to Japan I had to worry about school-work and the tournament and training regimens and-" He paused when Riku let out a low chuckle and patted him on the back.

"I know, I've been busy too. I'm just pulling your leg."

Sena downright pouted at him. "That's not nice Riku. I thought you were actually mad at me." He paused for a moment and blinked very slowly as he stared at the fair haired boy beside him.

"Wait a minute, why aren't you with your team mates?"

Riku ran a hand through his hair and gave Sena a quirky smile. "Well, last night I was studying old videos again, and then I slept through my alarm this morning."

Sena gave him a dead-pan look. "I thought you weren't going to do that anymore."

"I can't help it, it's habit. Besides, I woke up fine the last couple of times."

"Oi Sena, hurry it up." Juumonji called, thankfully he didn't seem too agitated, although he was crossing his arms in his no-nonsense, do-as-I-say manner.

Sena cast several quick glances from his team mates to Riku and back before his childhood friend caught his attention.

"I'd better be joining up with the rest of Seibu now anyways. At next week's semi-final I won't go easy just because you're with Deimon."

"I know. I wouldn't want you to." Sena responded truthfully. "Just make sure you get out of bed on time next week."

"I will. There's a matter of pride I want settled during that game. There's no way I'd miss it." He said before turning away, leaving Sena to stare at his back in confusion for a second.

'Pride?'

"Pick up the pace, fucking shrimp!"

Sena quickly allowed his thoughts to slip from his mind as he trailed after his team mates, the group slowly breaking off as people made their way home until only he and Mamori were left.

"It was surprising to see Riku-kun again like that, it seems his code of ethics hasn't changed at all." Mamori began conversationally. "Seeing you two like that reminds me of six years ago, when you first met... Although you've changed a lot since then."

Sena tried not to think too much of the last statement. He had solid alibis, evidence and Mamori's own opinions about him to keep her from figuring out the secret ahead of schedule. Not that he really had a schedule.

"By the way, you seem to be a little tired. Are you feeling okay?"

"Yeah, running around the stands to take pictures and record all those formations from above is tough work." Sena rubbed at the back of his neck absent-mindedly. "I'll be nice to just laze around in school tomorrow."

Mamori paused mid-step and turned to look at him, her eyebrows drawn upwards inquisitively. "But Sena, don't you remember what tomorrow is?"

"Eh? Umm... Monday?"

Mamori sighed. "It's sports day tomorrow, haven't you been paying attention in homeroom and during the morning announcements?"

"Uh..." Sena blinked quickly as he tried to come up with a plausible excuse, he highly doubted Mamori would think 'but I've been thinking about football' was a legible reason to not pay attention.

"I just forgot." He finished lamely. "That sort of thing doesn't really interest me, so it just slipped out of my mind until you mentioned it."

Mamori seemed to buy the excuse and nodded to herself. "Alright, be sure to get plenty of sleep tonight, you'll want to be well rested for the morning."

"Oh, I'll probably sleep like a baby." Sena began turning down his street. "I'll see you tomorrow, Mamori-neechan."

"Have a good night Sena, if you're sore from all the running around you did in the stands, be sure to take a nice warm bath!" Mamori called back to him and Sena smiled at her motherly tone.

'A bath would probably do me some good, that Devil Bat Dive was pretty hellish.' Sena rubbed at his shoulder soothingly as he made his way towards his house. 'Now that the Kyoshin game is over I can try and relax myself, at least for today.'

Because tomorrow there would be even more training to do, this time to go up against the Wild Gunmen.

He just hoped facing off against Riku wasn't going to be a stressful as Kakei, he wasn't sure if he could handle that.

'I wonder how much longer I should wear the eyeshield for, we're almost at the end of the autumn tournament...' He pursed his lips in thought as he entered his house.

Mamori, while not as protective as she used to be, was still very much a mother-hen when she felt the situation called for it. And she wasn't the only one he'd have to worry about panicking over his welfare.

'I guess I'll just have to worry about that when the time comes.'

And he had a feeling that it would be coming soon.

He slipped upstairs and drew himself a bath, not lingering in the water for too long for fear of falling asleep and practically drowning. He then lazily finished up his homework, the process taking him longer than it should have due to Pitt stealing away the majority of his attention.

After giving the small cat one final, leisurely scratch behind the ears he put away his textbooks and got ready for bed, smiling when Pitt curled up next to him.

'Tomorrow is going to be an interesting day.' He thought as he slowly began running his fingers down Pitt's back, eyes drooping as he began to drift off.

He had no idea how much of an understatement 'interesting' was going to turn out to be.


	92. Chapter 92

FASH: Sorry this was a bit late, once Wild is completely finished I'll have more time to finish these chapters for Sundays. Time for the sports festival and Deimon's psychotic genius trio. This is gonna be so fun to write.

""-speech

''-thoughts

He'd woken up unusually early the next morning without the aid of his alarm clock and had taken his time in preparing for the day ahead, unlike his usual rush to gather up all of his school supplies. He took it to be a good omen, he was well rested, his shoulder felt relatively fine and morning practice went well.

Then Deimon's field day started and the evil aura around Hiruma became more palpable than usual after the blonde had cast a quick glance at a piece of paper.

Mamori had been the first to dryly ask him if he was plotting anything 'fiendishly evil'.

Hiruma's only answer had been a decisively evil cackle before he whipped out an impressive array of guns and began expertly looking them over while exclaiming: "The white team _will _win!"

Monta reeled back at the exclamation, eyes wide with a tinge of fear. "Wh-what's with him?!"

"He... Suddenly seems to be enjoying himself." Sena repressed the urge to shudder. "It's not like him to show interest in field day. What's with that blood thirsty look?"

"I don't know what it is, but if we lose, we may be in big trouble." Toganou responded, wearily keeping an eye on Hiruma as the blonde began whispering secretively in Yukimitsu's ear.

And then the unthinkable happened, Yukimitsu went from a sweet, mld mannered genius to a psychotic one, much like Hiruma.

"We've got to win, even if it kills us!" He shouted while Hiruma handed him a firearm to brandish.

Mamori gave the two second years a peculiar look before sighing and making her way over to them. "Really! You don't need guns for field day! Why are you joining too, Yukimitsu-kun?"

For a moment Yukimitsu's expression faltered and everyone thought the drama was over, until Hiruma leaned in close to Mamori and said something in a hushed tone.

Mamori was oddly silent for a moment, as if struggling to comprehend whatever Hiruma had told her. Then she joined in on the madness, laughing in a way that was sure to haunt Sena's nightmares for the rest of his life. "We're gonna kick the red-team's butt!"

The majority of the Devil Bats just about had a heart attack right then and there. Mamori going bad? What was the world coming too?!

Hiruma turned to his currently sane, _but who knew how long that would last_, team mates and gave them his usual striking grin before turning and walking away with his psychotic genius counter-parts.

"We... We'd better start getting ready for field day." Sena managed to get out once he found his voice and Monta nodded mutely besides him, apparently still not recovered from seeing Mamori turn to the dark side.

Everyone reluctantly changed into their gym clothes and tied on their red head-bands before moving to the school's court-yard where the opening ceremony would take place. Hiruma, Mamori and Yukimitsu were loitering around, looking like they belonged to some sort of gang.

It kind of reminded Sena of Marco, what with the pin-stripes and all.

"They're completely different than usual." Sena lamented softly.

"Except Hiruma-kun, he's as crazy as ever." Kurita commented nervously.

"They must be up to something. I'm afraid that, if we lose, something bad might happen." Juumonji said with a deceivingly steady voice, although he looked just about as nervous as everyone else.

Sena cast another look at Deimon's genius trio and couldn't help but think that 'something bad' was an understatement. Whatever Hiruma had told Mamori and Yukimitsu to make them snap like that must have been incredibly important, and perhaps mildly disturbing.

'If we don't win, we're doomed.'

He wondered if this was Hiruma's scheme, adding fear to fuel their competitive fire, but it still didn't seem to make sense. Why did he care so much about field day? And did he even really want to know?

'I just hope that Mamori-neechan and Yuki-san go back to normal after a while. I don't think I can handle the both of them acting like this for too long, it's scary.'

Thankfully the first competition was tug-of-war and with all of their linemen on the red team they were able to attain victory quickly and efficiently to earn twenty points, but that only seemed to spur Hiruma on.

"Heh! Not bad." He commented before walking forward, everyone on the white team parting to give him ample room to move. "Do I have to take action? Having the red team in the lead interferes with my plans!"

Damn, the people on the white team were so lucky to have Hiruma on their team.

"Now that he's on the other side, I can see how scary he is!" Kurita said, as if he'd never noticed how petrifying Hiruma was all the years he'd known him until now. Although there was something significantly more blood-curdling about Hiruma when he was no longer your ally, knowing that he'd be doing everything in his power to take you down. That was probably why no one commented on Kurita's observation.

The next competition was the bean-bag toss, every bag that stayed in the basket would be worth a point and so far the red team had been doing pretty well, but Hiruma, Mamori and Yukimitsu could already be seen by the sidelines, plotting something. It wasn't long before the three sprung into action, Yukimitsu starting to gather up all the stray bags while Mamori took the shirts from the all too willing Yamaoka and Satake to create a pair of bags that Yukimitsu was quick to fill. After tying them securely closed she handed them over to Hiruma who threw both bags into the basket with ease.

"That puts us way behind!" Kurita whined as he stared at the white team's accomplishment.

"And now we keep on missing the basket." Juumonji gruffly admitted, Hiruma's show of prowess had the majority of the red team too in awe to think straight, let alone throw straight.

"But we can't just stop and let them win!" Sena said in an attempt to be valiant, but he ended up sounding just as afraid as he felt, which was _very_.

He never wanted such a massive amount of brain-power being used against him ever again.

He'd been scurrying around close to the ground, gathering up as many bags as his arms could hold, when a shadow passed over him and he looked up to see Monta catching multiple misdirected bags in mid air.

He gracefully landed, arms laded with dozens of bags, and smiled widely.

"Uh, Monta, you're not going to try throwing all those, are you?" Sena asked cautiously, trying not to imagine the horrors that could occur if Monta, with his aim, tried tossing them all at once.

"Tsk, tsk." Monta replied, waving a finger slightly at Sena's question. "I know what a lousy shot I am."

Thank God for that, Sena didn't want a stray bag to hit him in the face.

"The idea I had to practice against Mizumachi just reminded me of this."

"You mean the stilts?"

"No, the idea I had after the stilts. Look, If you get up on Kurita-san's shoulders and then I get up on your shoulders then I'll be able to get all of these in no problem!" Monta finished, striking a triumphant pose while he was at it.

"Well, if you think it'll work..." Sena trailed off and Monta nodded vigourously. "Let's go and get Kurita-san then."

Monta's plan was quickly executed and after only a couple minutes Sena felt as though he were part of a totem pole, which he could admittedly get over, but the pain in his shoulder was starting to flare up now that there was a bunch of weight resting on it.

"Monta, could you pick up the pace a little?" He asked as kindly as he could through clenched teeth, willing himself not to flinch at the throbbing since that would more than likely throw them all off balance.

"Just a sec. Sena, we've only got a little time left, so we've only got one shot at this." Monta replied wisely, although soon enough he was getting caught up in the excitement that was happening a solid eight feet below him.

"That's it! He's gonna put 'em straight in!"

"All right! Dunk it!"

Sena could feel Monta go still and he could almost imagine the dreamy look on his friend's face.

'Oh no, this is bad.'

"Monta, please don't try and-"

Too late, Monta had already jumped from Sena's shoulders to dunk the bags into the basket, apparently not realizing that, unlike a basket ball net, the very thin poles holding the baskets up wouldn't be able to stand with all of Monta's weight on one side.

The entire thing tipped over, Monta in tow, and their bags scattered across the ground just as a whistle was blown.

The bean-bag toss was over, one hundred and two balls for the white team, zero for the red.

The Huh Huh Brothers were quick to show off how displeased they were by going over to Monta and roughing him up a bit, not as brutal as they might have been due to the fall Monta had gone through.

"Well, that really turned the tide." Sena commented dryly, rolling his shoulder a bit in an attempt loosen up the muscles.

"Ah, sorry about that!" Monta quickly apologized, rubbing the back of his neck humbly. "I thought that, maybe if we did something really awesome Mamori-san and Yuki-san would snap out of that weird trance Hiruma-san put them in."

"It's no problem, we've still got the entire day to catch up." Sena stretched his arms into the air lazily. "Thankfully I don't need to participate in the next three games, so I can take it easy for a bit."

"Oh, you're not doing the Folk Dance?" Monta asked and Sena raised an eyebrow in response. "What? It's a good way to meet girls. And I'm going to make sure I dance with Mamori-san!"

"... Do you really want to dance with her the way she is now?" Sena asked incredulously and Monta threw a look over his shoulder at the second year who was currently laughing alongside Hiruma and Yukimitsu.

"O-hohohoho!"

Monta visibly shuddered. "Okay, point taken. I guess I'll just hang out with you until the three-legged costume race."

"Good plan." Sena agreed with a small smile. "I think Suzuna said that she'd be around today, maybe we could go and find her too."

"Sure, sounds fun." Monta replied as they began to wander off in the direction of the spectators. "So, since you can't participate in the one hundred meter dash, because of your identity crisis and all, who do you think will win it?"

"Hmm. Probably Ishimaru-san, so we'll be able to get some more points from that." Sena answered absent-mindedly as he searched the crowd for Suzuna, furrowing his eyebrows when he couldn't catch sight of her.

"Ah, we can catch up with her on the lunch break, for now let's just find a place to sit, I'm still tired from morning practice."

"I concur." Sena said with a wry smile before settling down on the grassy hillside to watch the next three events.


	93. Chapter 93

FASH: Yay, we finally get some more Riku in this chapter!

""-speech

''-thoughts

When it was time for the three legged costume race the white team was leading one hundred and eighty two to ninety eight.

"This isn't good." Sena commented shakily as he looked at the scoreboard. "I don't even want to imagine what'll happen if we lose."

"Well, at least we know Hiruma well enough to know we absolutely can't lose, otherwise..." Juumonji trailed off and Monta nervously clasped his hands to his chest.

"Otherwise what?"

"There's going to be a punishment game that will put shame to all the others." Juumonji said, his voice sounding as though he were currently telling some sort of terrifying ghost story.

Which wasn't all too far from the truth, if you ignored the ghost part.

"B-but we should be fine right? Because if we win the three legged costume race, our team gets one hundred points! Plus we've got Sena-kun on our side!" Kurita exclaimed and Monta excitedly nodded his head.

"Your right, this'll be an easy win to the max!"

"But guys-" Sena began softly. "Even if we have me, the person I team up with is someone I have to chose from the spectators."

No one appeared to be listening to him, already too pumped up about the hundred points they could win.

"I guess I'll just start looking for a partner then." He said out loud, although he had the distinct feeling he still wasn't being heard.

'I should probably be happy that they have so much faith in my running ability, but I wish they'd let themselves see the bigger picture.' He sighed and began wandering towards the crowd, nervously trying to scout a partner out.

'At a time like this it would be really helpful if I had that muscle reading ability like Shin-san. It would be even more helpful if Shin-san were here.'

Sena entertained that thought for a while, he and Shin, side by side, running perfectly in synch, matching step for step, breath for breath.

'But, there's no way that'll happen.' Sena thought, shoulders slumping in defeat. 'And I don't really want to approach a stranger in the crowd...'

His thought drifted away from his current predicament when his eyes happened to land upon a rather eclectic bunny outfit. The costume itself was cute, but the whole image was destroyed by the gun it was wielding as it appeared to threaten a racoon and a squirrel to not get ahead of him.

'At least I won't have to worry about Hiruma-san during my round. Although I've still got to find a good partner and time is running out.'

He quickly ran his eyes over the crowd once again, trying to find someone who looked athletic but was also very approachable without much luck. He'd just about given up when he heard a familiar voice calling his name.

He spun around to see the source of the voice and instantly perked up at the sight of Riku.

"I'll run with you." The fair haired boy proclaimed as he made his way towards Sena.

"Riku... What a relief!" He quickly dodged away to grab the costumes the random lottery had assigned them. "If you're my partner we'll be fine! Hurry and put this on!"

Riku stared at him in a slow comprehension. "A big Buddha and a vase? Lame."

"Hey, don't complain about it, just put it on really quickly." Sena responded as he quickly slipped into the Buddha costume, after making sure none of the audience's eyes had strayed in his direction.

"So I'm the vase then? Why can't you're school just do a normal three legged race?" Riku asked as he slipped the costume on considerably slower then Sena had. "And you've got some weird games going on today as well, what's with that 'Die! Dodge Ball'?"

"Oh, it's probably just Hiruma-san's way of firing people up." Sena responded cheerfully, hardly able to believe his luck.

'There's no way I can lose if Riku's my partner, he's really awesome!'

"So, where exactly do we need to go on the track loop?" Riku asked after he finished shrugging his costume on.

"We'll be the anchors, so we'll be going to the far left side." The brunette replied, already making his way towards the spot he and Riku would have to start from.

"The anchors huh? Good, it's more fun when you're the decisive factor in your team's victory." Riku said, obviously pleased despite his dislike of being forced to wear a costume. "And this way I'll also get to see if my suspicions are correct."

Sena turned and thought of shooting Riku a dead-pan look, but quickly stopped when he realized Riku wouldn't be able to see it anyways. "Geez Riku, what sort of suspicions can you confirm during a three legged race? And you'd better not let you're mind wander as we start running just because you're curious about something."

"Hey, I'm not going to lose my focus like that so just give me that rope so I can tie us together."

"... If I didn't know you as well as I do, that would have sounded perverted."

"... Just give me the rope Sena."

"Yes sir, right away sir!"

Riku quickly tied their legs together and they maneuvered themselves into their allotted starting area just a while before the white team's anchors were given the baton and were able to start up.

"Hey Sena, let's make this a miraculous comeback victory."

"Agreed." Sena replied as he held his hand out behind him, quickly curling around the baton as soon as it brushed against his fingers.

And then they were off, easily matching each other's pace and footfalls and steadily gaining on the white team's anchor.

'Amazing, Riku is really amazing! He's matching his legs perfectly to mine.' Sena didn't bother containing his smile, since it wasn't like anyone could see it anyways. 'We're so in sync, I wonder if it's because Riku was the one who first taught me how to run all those years ago?'

They breezed passed the white team's anchor, then passed the finish line and even as they slowed down they were able to match each other's pace. When they did come to a stop Riku leaned over and untied their legs before pulling the costume up over his head.

"Sena, I have a question... Where did he go?" Riku carefully looked around him, but Sena had successfully disappeared in the time it had taken Riku to take his costume off.

'Well, that pretty much proves it, now all that's left is to make him _admit_ it.'

"Looking for something?" Sena suddenly asked from behind him and it took all of Riku's will power to not appear startled as he turned around.

Sena was out of the costume, which was currently no where in sight.

"You sure changed out of that costume fast. Any particular reason for that? Could it be that you don't want anyone to know who you-"

Riku's questioning was interrupted by the loud, nearby voice of Mamori.

"Dang! How frustrating! Don't think you've won! You'll pay dearly for this!" She declared as she clenched a handkerchief between her teeth and tugged on it as she steamed.

"... Is Mamori sick or something?" Riku asked dryly and Sena shrugged his shoulders.

"I have no idea, but I'd better get together with the rest of my team so we can think up ways to stay in the lead. I'll see you around Riku!" Sena waved before dashing through the crowd.

'I guess I'll just have to wait until the end of the day then.'

During the lunch break the red team attempted to think up strategies to keep the white team from gaining any more points, although it was extremely difficult since it was hard to be confident that Hiruma wouldn't already know what they were thinking and prepare a countermeasure for it.

"Well, at least for the second year's relay road race we have Ishimaru-san. Hiruma-san can't hurt him _too_ much since he's on the team." Sena said aloud prompting several disbelieving looks to be sent his way.

"Hey, I wasn't saying he'd be scotch-free, I'm just saying that Hiruma-san cares too much about winning football to severely injure one of our players. Besides, Hiruma-san isn't that bad of a guy."

"Dude, Sena." Monta spoke up, patting his friend on the back consolingly. "Hiruma-san seems to care a lot about winning today. So I guess all we can do is offer Ishimaru-san up and hope he doesn't get killed."

"I can hear you, you know."

"Ah, I can already hear his ghost speaking to me."

"M-Monta! Don't be so mean." Sena admonished his friend lowly before turning his attention back to the inconspicuous second year. "I'm sure you'll do great Ishimaru-san. Besides, what could Hiruma do on the road of a residential neighbourhood?"

He almost wished he didn't ask. Just as the relay race was coming to a close and Ishimaru was a shoe in for the win, Hiruma blocked off the road. With a tank.

_An actual tank._

Needless to say the white team won and the tables were once again turned. The only competition left was the mock cavalry battle.

"All right, ya damn white team!" Hiruma called loudly enough so that no one could possibly have trouble hearing him. "Follow your routes just like we planned. I'll blow you away if you break the formation!"

"They seem to have an exact strategy for the game, as expected of Deimon's genius trio." Sena remarked after over-hearing Hiruma's threatening.

"Yeah, it sucks that they're our enemies this time around." Monta replied before an overly cheery voice caught their attention.

"Hello red team. How about a friendly handshake for fair play during the final match?"

They both turned their heads very slowly to see Hiruma smiling innocently at them, offering his hand out to them kindly.

Sena and Monta hadn't seen Hiruma act like that since he and Monta met Sena's mother. But even if they had seen him like this before, it didn't make the almost believable aura of innocence around him any less freaky.

'A trap! A trap! It's definitely a trap!' Their minds chorused in unison as they both took a cautious step back.


	94. Chapter 94

FASH: Man, this fic is becoming a monster! And it's almost one year old too, and I don't think we're even at the halfway point yet. I'm going to be so busy with this during the summer.

""-speech

''-thoughts

"Oh, what's wrong?" Hiruma asked, tilting his head to the side curiously. "Are you going to shake my hand or not?"

"Never! Not in a million years!" Monta loudly exclaimed, Sena silently agreeing with him.

He wasn't sure how shaking someone's hand could be so intimidating, but with Hiruma acting this way it was easy to tell that evil was afoot.

"Oh dear." Mamori's normal, soft voice rung out and Sena turned to see her and Yukimitsu approaching.

"Hahaha. They're so untrusting." Yukimitsu chuckled, looking for all the world like he was back to his old self.

The pair stopped in front of them, holding out their hands much like Hiruma had done just a moment before.

"Don't you wanna shake hands with me?" Mamori asked innocently.

"Don't be so stubborn. Let's have a fair and friendly match." Yukimitsu added.

"M-Mamori-san." Monta stuttered with a blush and stepped forward while Kurita happily noted how Mamori and Yukimitsu had gone back to normal.

"No! Wait! Something's wrong!" Sena heard a metallic click and looked down where the sound had emanated from, eyes going comically wide at the handcuffs that had been clasped around his wrists.

He threw a disbelieving look at Hiruma who had at least dropped his innocent visage by this point as he, Mamori and Yukimitsu stood around, smirking triumphantly at their handcuffed team mates.

"Th-they'll go this far just to win? What exactly will happen to us if we lose?" Kuroki questioned aloud, sending a cautious look in Mamori's direction. "I mean, I get that the monkey let his guard down-"

"Hey! Who are you calling a monkey?!"

Sena's eyes locked back onto the handcuffs, desperately trying to think up a scheme that would get him out of them without having to possibly die in a cavalry battle first.

'Well, threatening Hiruma-san by saying that I'll have Agon-san avenge me won't work, but-' Sena paused and blinked, turning his eyes back to Hiruma with a startling amount of clarity as Taki began to loudly claim that the handcuffs wouldn't hinder him at all.

'That's it! If Agon-san were here he'd think that Hiruma-san putting handcuffs on me was perverse and hinted at something. All I have to do is pretend that I'd think along the same lines as Agon-san in this situation!'

Okay, so trying to embarrass Hiruma to the point where he'd unlock his handcuffs would probably be more embarrassing for him than for Hiruma, but it was worth a try.

He attempted to saunter over to Hiruma's side, already trying to think of something cleverly suggestive to say, when someone gripped the hem of his shirt and dragged him back.

"What are you doing, going over to the enemy?" Juumonji asked gruffly as he tugged Sena along. "Handcuffed or not, you've still got to participate."

"But-"

"No excuses, we've got to get ready for the cavalry battle, the white team is already all set up."

Sena sighed and followed along. 'Well, I suppose my idea had a low chance of being successful anyways, and this way Mamori-neechan won't get all paranoid about Hiruma-san's intentions. But doing this is going to be awkward with handcuffs on.'

"Don't give up, we haven't even started yet." Juumonji chided him lightly, apparently translating Sena's sigh of exasperation as one of defeat.

"I know. It's just Hiruma-san and the others are acting really strange. If he were just doing this to play dirty, then he could have just handcuffed all of us. It doesn't make sense."

"He doesn't need to make sense. Besides, why else would he do something like this if it wasn't to win with a cheap trick? He's been doing stuff like this all day, remember the tank?"

"Yeah, I remember the tank. I don't think I'll ever be able to forget the tank." Sena moved to rub a hand against his forehead, stopping when his other hand was dragged along with it.

"This is going to get pretty annoying pretty quick."

"Yeah, so we'd better win fast so that those temporarily, and one permanently, crazy bastards will let you out. Come on, we need to find two more horses to hold you up." And with that Juumonji began dragging him along again.

The cavalry battle started off as one might expect when you had over half a dozen people in handcuffs on one side and the people on the opposing side had an actual plan. It was just a few minutes in and already it looked like the end was near, until Taki, in one of his egocentric displays, managed to push one of the white riders away.

"A-ha-ha! Even if I can't use my hands freely, I'm so skillful that I can _elegantly _push them away!"

"Push?" Sena repeated softly. "No, it's bumping! Even if our hands are tied, we can knock the enemy off balance with a bump!"

"You're right." Monta commented lightly, stroking at his chin calmly in thought as if he were just a spectator on the sidelines and not someone actually competing in the cavalry battle. "When Kamaguruma bumped me in the Taiyo match I lost my balance completely!"

During his reminiscing a group from the white team had begun running towards him from behind, the rider rather brashly announcing their presence by loudly claiming he'd take Monta's headband. A bad move on his part.

Monta whipped around and with a loud cry of: "Bump!" he drove his hands onto the opposing riders chest, knocking him off balance and grabbing his headband easily.

"All right! This is it: charge!" Kuroki called loudly and his team rushed forward, Taki not far behind, grinning and rhetorically asking if Kuroki liked his idea.

"You ready for some action Sena?" Juumonji asked as he swerved and began moving towards a group of people from the white team.

"Of course, I'm always ready." Sena replied with a grin before narrowing his eyes in concentration and locking onto the nearest white grouping.

'Watch the opponents carefully, an enemy trying to get a headband is like a receiver trying to take the ball away. You've got to bump and break!' Sena thrust his arms forward as soon as he was within range of the white group, not able to stop the grin from spreading over his face when he managed to knock his opponent off balance and seize his headband.

'Hiruma-san didn't give us these handcuffs so that the white team would have an easy time winning. He wanted us to perfect the bumping method for the next game!' Sena rested his hands on Juumonji's shoulders and leaned in.

"Juumonji-kun, how do you feel about infiltrating enemy territory?"

Juumonji bit back a smirk. "I love it."

The next ten minutes were like a rigourous upper body workout, but it was all worth it in the end when the red team managed to attain victory, although it had been a pretty close call.

Sena looked down at the white headbands he'd managed to gather, gripping onto them triumphantly. This had been the first time he was involved in a cavalry battle, and he was thinking of keeping the headbands as a memento.

'It's not weird to keep them right? I mean, it's just for some nice high school memories not related to football, since I don't seem to have any of those.'

Mamori and Yukimitsu approached them, thankfully back to their normal selves, and began unlocking everyone's handcuffs, both of them looking equally abashed and apologetic.

"I'm sorry, we didn't mean to trick you..." Mamori began, wringing her hands nervously.

"No, no! Don't worry about it!" Monta quickly cut in, flailing his arms about wildly. "We totally forgive you!"

"So in addition to our usual menu, we're gonna train on the bump all week! Got it?!" Hiruma loudly called and Monta quickly snapped to attention.

"Yes sir!" He shouted in response while everyone else just nodded, probably thinking that it would make him look cool in front of his crush.

Sena snuck a glance at Mamori and Yukimitsu's shyly intertwined hands and wished Monta would miraculously discover the zero percent chance he had with Mamori.

Seriously, was he the only one who seemed to notice this slowly budding relationship or something? Or was he just blowing the simple act of holding hands way out of proportion?

'I'll have to talk with Mamori-neechan about this later.' He told himself with a nod before he began meandering off of the field with the rest of his team mates.

"Ah, it's really relieving though, isn't it?" He asked aloud and Monta turned to give him a curious look.

"Hiruma-san being back on our side, I mean." He rubbed at his wrists in remembrance of the cool metal that had not long ago been finally removed. "Usually we take that blessing for granted, but..."

"Yeah, we felt that way too." Juumonji said as he came up from behind him. "If this is how our opponents have to feel all the time, then I kind of feel sorry for them."

"Yeah, Hiruma-kun is violent but as a play-maker he's really the best!" Kurita giddily announced.

"Hey, wait. As tired as we are, are we still going to have practice after school?!" Kuroki asked incredulously, sending looks around to everyone, as if asking them to tell him otherwise.

"I know it's a lot to do all in one day, but we may as well start practising the bump now before we forget the proper motions..." He trailed off as he caught sight of something coming towards him in his peripheral vision and he quickly moved to catapult himself out of the way.

He spun around and braced himself on one knee, facing the direction he'd come from with wide eyes. Not far off from where he'd been before stood Riku, a pensive look on his face.

"Hmmm. Great reflexes Sena." His eyes narrowed slightly. "So, you're Eyeshield twenty one, huh?"

Sena's eyes widened slightly. 'He must have figured it out during the three legged race.'

"Yes, I am." He responded simply, already planning to go into depth in case Riku demanded to know why he hadn't been told earlier.

"Huh? HUUUUUH?!" An unexpected voice was heard and Sena whipped around to see Ishimaru, eyes bulging out as he processed the information he'd overheard and pointing a shaky finger in Sena's direction.

"You mean Eyeshield twenty one is Sena? Sena-shield is... Twenty one.... Is...." He fell backwards, practically foaming at the mouth. "Come join the track club!"

"He fainted while recruiting!" Kuroki exclaimed, both he and Monta staring at the second year in shock.

"So, you've been training with the running method I taught you for the last six years in the hopes of being a good running back?" Riku questioned, successfully bringing Sena's attention back to himself.

"Well..." Sena bashfully rubbed at the back of his neck. "To be honest for a while I just used it to be a better gopher..."

"... Excuse me?"

"But after I met Takami-niisan he told me about football! Remember, he's the one you met that one time, and you two had this weird mini fight about which one of you was a better big brother or something?"

Riku's face was blank and Sena sighed.

"In any case, you know things are different now. I don't train to win fights or be a gopher anymore. I train to win football games."

"Hmmm?" Riku tilted his head back, assessing him. "You're still not there yet."

And with that he lifted up his hand and dropped the white headbands that Sena had been holding just minutes before, allowing them to flutter to the ground lightly.

'All the headbands I was holding, not one dropped, taken in a mere instant. I didn't even notice I didn't have them anymore.' Sena's cheeks burned and he took a deep breath to prepare himself for whatever Riku would have to say about that.


	95. Chapter 95

FASH: Dear God, only several more chapters to go before we reach the big one-hundred. And we're only just getting to the end of volume fifteen. Wow... Maybe someday I'll try and write longer chapters...

""-speech

''-thoughts

"You're pathetic Sena. If these headbands were the ball, you'd have lost to me."

Sena winced a little at the words and Monta quickly leapt to his defence.

"No he wouldn't! Because a headband isn't like a ball at all."

Riku sweat-dropped at the interruption. "Yeah, you're right, but that's not the point. Speaking of which, why are you taking part in this conversation?"

Monta opened his mouth, probably to say something along the lines of: 'I can say what I want', but Sena placed a placating hand on his friend's shoulder and Monta stayed silent, although he looked liked he'd voice his thoughts again if Riku said anything else he disagreed with.

Riku continued on unhindered. "The Seibu versus Deimon match is Sunday. Me versus Sena, it will be our first real battle."

Sena nodded, making a small noise of agreement since Riku had turned his eyes away before he could perceive the movement.

"A battle between master and pupil... No, there's no more master and pupil. I will think of you as my arch-rival, I stake my pride on it. I'll beat you, Sena!"

Sena took a confident step forward, opening his mouth to respond to Riku's challenge.

Then Monta, probably sick of keeping quite by now, jumped in again. "All right! Bring it on!" He said with a thumbs up.

"Why do you keep answering?!" Riku demanded and Monta shrugged his shoulder noncommittally.

"Well, what else am I supposed to do when you start talking like that? Besides, when you think about it Sena's got a mountain of rivals-"

Sena, in an attempt to stop any verbal spats before they had a chance to happen, quickly clamped a hand over Monta's mouth, sending Riku a wan smile.

"I suppose next time I see you we'll be on opposite sides of the field..." He began softly, eyes narrowing minutely in determination. "I won't lose, Riku."

The fair haired boy smirked and turned to walk away before he caught sight of something in his peripheral vision and stopped to stare.

"... Riku?" Sena asked cautiously and Riku put a finger to his lips and motioned him to come towards the school gate.

Sena and Monta curiously followed him, straining their ears to try and pick up the conversation that was going on between Hiruma and Kid without getting themselves caught.

The vaguely made out something about Tokyo's best quarterback and someone named 'Shien', which was, according to Hiruma, Kid's actual name.

"Shien? The Kid?" Riku murmured under his breath, apparently just as in the dark about his quarterback as Sena and Monta were.

"I don't know what they're talking about." Monta replied, sounding more curious than cautious.

"But I don't think we should butt in." Sena said in a hushed voice. Barging into something like this had 'certain death' written all over it.

They silently watched for a while longer, wondering if the confrontation would be coming to an end any time soon.

Then Hiruma, for some God-forsaken reason, decided to call Tetsuma something alone the lines of a 'single-minded foolish baboon'.

Kid tossed a dark glare in Hiruma's direction, practically overflowing with something _a lot_ like murderous intent. "Tetsuma is the best receiver!"

The three onlookers all flinched slightly at his tone, having never seen Kid this angry before. Or to be even more specific, they had never seen Kid angry, at all.

Hiruma just laughed at the reaction though, feeling as un-threatened as ever. "No one thinks Tetsuma is a loser. You're actually burning up inside. So don't act so cool!"

Kid pulled down the brim of his hat, glancing at Hiruma testily. "Well, well. Aren't you good at provoking people. Shouldn't let my guard down..." He turned and walked away, Riku moving after him a couple seconds afterwards to make it less obvious that he'd been listening in.

"I'll see you on Sunday, Sena." He said before leaving and Sena bid him a soft good-bye before turning away and trudging toward the clubhouse, Monta in tow. They quickly caught up with their other team mates, who were waiting around outside for Hiruma to return.

"Riku _and _The Kid." Sena murmured, quivering a little as he remembered the deathly aura the normally laid back Kid had given off when Hiruma had made a jibe against Tetsuma. " I knew it before, but the match against Seibu is going to be pretty tough."

"If it turns into a high scoring game, the kicker could make all the difference." Juumonji commented and Monta promptly bashed his head against the clubhouse wall, causing the majority of the team to send perturbed looks in his direction.

Monta then proceeded to move his head away from the wall and cover up his mouth as he let out some rather unanticipated laughter.

"...Has he snapped under the pressure or something?" Toganou asked lowly when the receiver began to roll on the ground

"No, no I can't hold it any longer. I thought I would keep it as a surprise secret until the game but... I just can't!" He abruptly stopped rolling and pushed himself up onto his feet.

"Everybody, take it easy! Are you all ready for this? That legendary super kicker named Musashi-san is coming back for the Seibu match!"

"What?!"

Monta excitedly burst into the clubhouse and began searching through a stack of papers, everyone else following him in inquisitively, although most of them were pretty sure Monta was out of his mind due to his rather deranged behaviour.

"If we had a kicker, we could score seven points each touchdown..." Sena began slowly. "Like you said, if Musashi-san came back it would be great but-"

"I'm telling you!" Monta found the paper he was looking for and placed it on the table in front of Sena. "Look at this! It's the Devil Bats' roster, I accidentally saw it this morning!"

Sena glanced at it and was surprised to see, listed between Hiruma Yoichi and Yukimitsu Manabu, the name Takekura Gen.

"No kidding, Musashi-san's name is on it!"

"He promised that if we won against a strong team, he would come back right? We beat Kyoshin, remember?"

And then, with the grace of a fish out of water, Kurita suddenly burst into the room, not even bothering to open the door and instead just breaking it right off of the hinges.

"Musashi-kun?!" He questioned loudly and Sena quickly held out the team roster to him.

"Look at this Kurita-san! See Musashi-san's name?"

Kurita took the list and stared at it blankly for a moment before seeming to slip into a nostalgic mood.

"Oh yeah, maybe it's better to tell you all, the story of Musashi-kun and us. The whole story." He smiled loosely and Sena and Monta gave each other curious looks before settling down for the story.

"In junior high, the good old days..."

"Hiruma-san's junior high days? He actually went to junior high?" Sena asked, as though the very idea was laughable.

"Well, of course he did." Monta replied and Sena quickly realized how stupid his question must have sounded.

"No, what I mean is, it's hard to imagine that he was once younger than I am now."

Hiruma must have been one of the scariest children on the face of the Earth.

"Yeah, I know what you mean." Monta said with a nod of agreement and a small shudder, probably thinking of the travesties young Hiruma had caused.

Kurita smiled a bit, probably remembering a couple of the aforementioned travesties.

"I always believed that Hiruma-kun, Musashi-kun and I, the three of us together, would go to the Christmas Bowl! The only thing was, Deimon didn't have a football club already put together, but it was the only school that I was sure I'd pass the entrance exams for, so Hiruma-kun said he'd take care of it."

Sena and Monta blanched, although Kurita was too caught up in his fond memories to notice.

'Take care of it, huh?'

"So we all got into Deimon and established our club, but when we started recruiting it seemed that some strange rumours about Hiruma-kun being dangerous were going around, so no one willingly played with us. Whenever games came up Hiruma-kun tended to sic Cerberus on people to make them join." Kurita titled his head to the side for a moment, as if analysing the memory.

"Maybe that's why those rumours were going around..." He mused to himself before continuing on without a hitch. "Musashi-kun was always helping out his father at work, but he never let it interfere with practice. But then during a game, just when we had the chance to turn everything around with a field goal, someone from the construction company came to tell Musashi-kun that his father had collapsed. Musashi-kun left immediately, and he never managed to make it back."

Sena shifted around uncomfortably at the mention of the incident.

"So he quit coming to school and took up his family's carpenter business."

"Th-then what is this?!" Monta demanded, holding up the slip of paper he'd found. "Musashi-san is listed in the Devil Bats' roster, isn't he?!"

"Hiruma-kun did it so Musashi-kun would be listed as temporarily absent rather than withdrawn from school. That's why he's still on the roster, so he can come back any time."

Kurita gestured over to the locker that hadn't been touched since the renovation. "That kicking tee is waiting for it's owner. The kick that Musashi-kun was going to make at the end, that's the tee. Ever since then, time has stopped for the three of us."

"So what do we do?" Monta asked. "Does that mean that Musashi-san will _never_-"

"We're still waiting. Someday that door will open and Musashi-kun-"

Musashi took a step into the room, casting a questioning look at the door that Kurita had torn off it's hinges before speaking. "I'm done with the roof repair."

He got no response, since everyone was staring in shock at the amazingly good timing he'd just displayed without realizing it.

He didn't look entirely too surprised at the lack of a reply, so he continued to explain himself. "Remember the gymnasium roof you guys burned down with fireworks on Saturday? The principal and Hiruma asked me to fix it." He turned away from the door. "Just letting you know."

"... Was that good timing or what? Maybe we can ask him to fix the door while he's still around, stall him from leaving for a bit." Sena mused to himself before Monta dashed by him, kicking tee in hand.

"What are you doing Monta?!"

"I don't know! But... I'm gonna give this kicking tee back to him!"

It took Sena all of one second to decide to follow after him.


	96. Chapter 96

FASH: I would have posted this earlier, but I couldn't log in due to a 'technical glitch'. Anyways, it has now officially been ONE YEAR since I started writing this. My God, anyone who's been reading this from the beginning has been following it for an _entire year_! I hope you guys will stick with me for the time it will take to finish this.

""-speech

''-thoughts

They rushed after Musashi, even after he buckled himself into his truck and began driving away. At that point in time Monta made a rather spectacular leap from the stairs with an exclamation of: "Truck catch!"

Sena, who had still been a step behind Monta at the time, allowed his jaw to drop. "That's impossible!"

Impossible or not, Monta still somehow managed to grab a hold of the truck and was dragged along with it, Sena following after worriedly.

'Just don't let go and skid to your death along the pavement!' Sena mentally urged, extremely thankful when the truck came to a stop after not too long, at Joka-Machi Hospital.

Still, for Musashi to have driven all this way without noticing that Sena and Monta were following after him, he must have not checked his rear-view mirrors at all. Sena would have lectured him for this rather dangerous breach of road safety, if he didn't think it would ruin the mood he and Monta were trying to create.

"Musashi-san!" Monta yelled after managing to pry his fingers off of the back of the truck, which was conveniently just about the same time Musashi stepped out of the vehicle. "This kicking tee! Kurita-san and Hiruma-san, do you know how they feel while waiting for you?!"

The older boy didn't even look back. "Go home, give it up. I abandoned them. I'm never going to kick the ball again."

"But Musashi-san-" Sena spoke up, only to interrupted by another, louder order for them to go home.

He ignored it and crossed his arms rather huffily before continuing. "Musashi-san, what about _yourself_!" He questioned loudly, pleased to see the older boy tense ever so slightly.

"When I first heard about football from Takami-niichan, I never thought I'd get into such a violent sounding sport. Yet _here I am_, and I _love_ it, I _want _to play with my team for as long as I can. Your family problems, your job... It's not about those things." Sena took a determined step forward. "It's about you. Do you still like it? Do you still want to play football with Hiruma-san and Kurita-san?!"

"Of course I do!" Musashi replied, still not looking back, and Sena could feel himself relax.

"That's good. That's what I really wanted to hear."

Musashi finally turned around, an oddly determined tilt to his brow as he regarded them.

"If some kind of miracle happened, like my old man suddenly getting better, night or day, on, even in the middle of a game, I'd run in and kick the ball!"

"Glad to hear it." Sena responded with a smile and the tense atmosphere suddenly began to melt away, prompting him to bring up the next topic he hadn't been sure was proper to bring up.

"Now then, regarding your lack of road safety..." He began, clasping his hands together in front of him and closing his eyes as he began to lecture. "Poor Monta was hanging onto your moving truck ever since you left the school. You need to check your rear-view mirrors a lot more often, especially when switching lanes, otherwise you might get into an accident." He cracked an eye open to see Musashi was giving him a wan smile.

"Right, I'll try and be more careful about that." He said before turning away and entering the hospital, leaving Monta to openly gape at Sena.

"Wow, you sounded just like an over concerned _mother_." He commented and Sena felt his cheeks heat up.

"I did not! Now let's get back to school before Hiruma-san decides he should skin us alive for being late for practice!"

The following week was a flurry of practice, practice and more practice with the occasional helping of school work on the side, and it wasn't long until their final practice before the game was over, leaving Sena with the _not_ _unfamiliar_ feeling that time was flying past much to quickly.

'But we will win against Seibu, we'll keep on winning until that miracle happens and Musashi-san can come back.'

Everyone had begun making their way towards the clubroom to change when a hand clasped Sena's shoulder and he looked back to see Juumonji.

"Was there something you needed, Juumonji-kun?" Sena asked politely as he turned around and Juumonji nodded mutely before clearing his throat.

Sena saw something move out of the corner of his eye and he glanced to his side to see what he'd caught sight of, only to see a mass of shadows steadily growing as the sun set.

The brunette shifted nervously, he could have sworn he had seen a flash of movement over there, but maybe his mind was just playing tricks on him after practising so long?

'No, there it is again.' A slight movement in the shadows that he could hardly perceive, and for some unexplainable reason, he didn't think that the current shadow lurker was Agon.

Extremely thankful that his eyeshield hid the fact that he was openly staring at the person spying on them and not Juumonji Sena strained his eyes to try and make out more of the figure. It was awfully hard to tell, but it _almost_ looked like it was wearing a Deimon uniform...

"Hey, you listening to me?" Juumonji gruffly asked and Sena snapped his attention back to the blonde guiltily.

"I'm sorry Juumonji-kun, but I think we're being spied on." Sena whispered back, tilting his head in the direction of the onlooker in a way he hoped wasn't too obvious.

Then Juumonji turned his head to look _directly at _the source of Sena's current nervousness, not incognito at all.

"Juumonji-kun, if you look right- Wait, where are you going?"

The blonde boy was quickly walking forward, apparently set on capturing the spy for a little one on one interrogation and Sena immediately felt sorry for the person hiding out in the shadows. This was the sort of thing Sena was always afraid would happen whenever Hiruma sent him out to spy on opposing teams.

However, as Juumonji wrenched the boy away from the shadows, Sena couldn't help but wonder if their situations were really that similar.

He'd never spied on anyone going to _his own school_ after all.

"Let go of me! I'm allowed to be here if I want, it's freedom of the press!" The rather lanky boy complained as he tried to worm his way out of Juumonji's iron grip.

"Oh? I suppose if you believe in the invasion of people's privacy you would get along extremely well with Hiruma. Did you want to meet him?" Juumonji questioned the boy who was, more likely than not, part of the school's newspaper.

The boy went pale at the suggestion. "No I do not! But if you're so willing to give me what I want, you can start with his name!" He pointed rather rudely in Sena's direction at this point before turning his full attention to the boy.

"Code name: Eyeshield twenty one, real name: unknown, apparently you came to our school after become the ace of a prestigious American school, but no student records show anyone coming here with a transcript like that. Who are you really? The public deserves to know!"

Juumonji snorted. "Why don't you go ask Hiruma who he is? I'm sure he'd be more than happy to tell you the whole story."

The lanky boy glared up at Juumonji before turning his dark look on Sena, who took a cautious step back.

'This isn't another one of the real Eyeshield twenty one's fans, is it?'

"At first the whole secret identity thing was kind of cool, but sooner or later you're going to have to stop hiding, you cowardly-"

"_Kekeke._" A dark, ominous cackle rung out, causing all three boys to shiver, although none of them would admit to it.

"Do you want to talk about cowardly deeds, Sawaka Masaru? If so, then I can oblige you with many tales of your own cowardice, for example, when you were in your last year of middle school-"

Masaru abruptly broke free of Juumonji's grip and dashed off at a speed that would be rather easy for Juumonji to catch up to, even if the other boy had a head start.

"Che." Hiruma shut his general Devil's Handbook before turning and walking back to the clubhouse as through nothing had happened.

"... Well, that was strange." Sena managed to say after a minute of complete silence.

"You're telling me." Juumonji replied, crossing his arms with a frown. "It's kind of hard to believe that someone from the school's newspaper is actually trying to figure out who you are. I'm pretty sure that right after the Oujou game our _fearless leader _had a 'word' with everyone on staff to keep them from snooping around."

"Well, everyone will find out who I am sooner or later. I can't hide my identity forever you know." Sena replied, slowly making his way to the clubhouse, Juumonji following after him.

"Still, it's pretty amazing that Hiruma knew what was going on, and was able to sneak over like that."

"Yeah, he must have added some more cameras for 'security purposes'."

"C-cameras?!"

"Oh, what is it that you wanted to talk to me about Juumonji-kun? I'm sorry, but that incident sort of distracted me."

Juumonji flushed and quickly muttered: "Nothing." before heading into the clubroom.

Sena tilted his head to the side curiously and wondered what exactly Juumonji wanted to talk to him about that was so embarrassing it would make him blush.

Maybe he just didn't want to do anything in front of the cameras? He had seemed a little stunned when Sena mentioned them.

Well, he had no time to worry about things like that, the Seibu game was tomorrow. Maybe afterwards he could ask Juumonji what he wanted to talk about.

He curled up in bed that night, feeling rather at ease about the challenge that he'd be facing in the morning.

Sure he'd be fighting Riku, one of his first friends, and the one who had taught him how to run in the first place, but he wouldn't be doing it alone, his team mates would be with him every step of the way, all of them as determined to win as he was.

'We won't lose.' Was his final thought before drifting off, and it seemed to echo in his mind hauntingly for a moment before fading away completely, along with his consciousness.


	97. Chapter 97

FASH: Seibu game, here we come! Then we have the Bando game, the Kantou Tournament and then the Christmas Bowl! So close, and yet so very, _very far._

""- speech

''- thoughts

"_Completely italicized text._"- the announcers

Waking up in the morning had never been _less_ of a chore. Sena found himself coming to wakefulness quickly and feeling quite well rested before his alarm even had the chance to start ringing. He got dressed and took his time walking to school, thoughts of the upcoming game drifting through his head and waking him up even more.

Nothing seemed to get his blood pumping quite as much as the promise of a good game these days, and going against a team like Seibu, who's playing style was so similar to their own, was definitely going to be a challenge. Not to mention this would be the first time he was _seriously_ competing against Riku.

'Maybe I shouldn't think about the game too much before it actually starts, I'll get overly excited if I do.' He told himself as he reached the school and waited for the rest of his team to arrive.

It didn't take very long for everyone to show up and in no time they were making their way to the stadium where the semi-final was being held.

In an effort to stay completely calm and make time go by a bit faster, Sena found himself mulling over things he had previously assured himself he wouldn't think of. Such as:

Was Agon going to be watching the game from the shadows like a creepy stalker again? And was it just Sena, or did that sort of behaviour seem similar to that of a guard dog?

A possibly deranged, violent, rather evil guard dog. It fit. Either that or a territorial love struck puppy, and Sena did not want to think of Agon as a love struck puppy.

Also, now that he wasn't worried about someone from Deimon's school newspaper spying on him, Juumonji's request to talk to him alone seemed odd. After all, what could he have possibly wanted to speak to Sena about that he couldn't do in front of the rest of the team?

And boy, Mamori and Yukimitsu seemed rather close today, they seemed glued to each other's side and.... And...

'And is that Mizumachi-kun, waving frantically?'

Indeed the blonde was several paces away, waving his arms around frantically in an effort to gain attention. Sena cautiously looked around to see if any Poseidon players were near him, and upon finding none his eyebrows drew together in confusion.

"Aw, did you think I was waving at someone else?" Mizumachi asked rather loudly as he strode towards the shorter boy, Kakei not far behind. "You're so cute Sena!"

Sena smiled weakly and Kakei sighed.

"Mizumachi, I think that Sena, as a self-respecting male, does not wish to be called 'cute'."

The blonde stared at Kakei blankly for a moment before breaking out into laughter.

"Oh, right! Sorry little dude, whenever I see you for some reason my mind seems to scream 'girl'."

Sena shifted around uncomfortably while Kakei rolled his eyes.

"Right, I'm sure it does." He then turned his hypnotic-state-inducing eyes to Sena, a wry smile spreading across his lips.

"Forgive him, as you know by now he tends to speak before he thinks."

"That's okay, I don't mind, but I'd better get going." Sena nodded his head in his retreating team's direction, flickering his eyes up to meet Kakei's ever so often.

'Don't become hypnotized by the eyes Sena, time is of the essence, start walking.' He told himself firmly before bidding the two tall boys farewell and walking away.

"We'll be rooting for you guys, so you'd better win!" Mizumachi yelled after him and Sena spun around, smiling.

"I'll be sure to pass on the message!" He replied before turning back around and rushing to the change rooms, hoping that he hadn't been too delayed.

He entered the change room without too much mishap, although Monta did give him a curious look and asked him where he'd been.

"Mizumachi-kun and Kakei-kun came over to say 'hi', pretty-much." Sena explained vaguely and Monta rose an eyebrow.

"Say 'hi', huh? Are you sure that's all?"

"Umm... Yes?" Sena answered weakly, unsure where Monta was going with this. "Although..."

"Although?" Monta pressed, probably glad to have something other than the game to focus on now that it was less than an hour away. Or maybe Monta was just naturally calm and inquisitive by nature.

"Well, Mizumachi-kun seems to subconsciously recognize me from this one time when Hiruma-san wanted me to spy on Kyoshin, so even though he doesn't completely recognize me from that time, whenever he sees me, to put it in his own words, his 'mind seems to scream _girl_'."

Sena began to change as he explained and Monta 'hmm'ed thoughtfully at his words.

"So was he hitting on you or something?"

Sena paused and turned to give Monta an incredulous look. "No, what gave you that idea?"

"Well, you did say he forgets that you're a guy, it sounds pretty reasonable to me." Monta stroked his chin. "What about Kakei? Did he?"

"Did he... Hit on me? No."

"Just making sure dude, you can never be sure what those stoic types are thinking." Monta finished suiting up and grabbed his helmet as he made his way out of the change room.

Sena quickly finished changing and put on his helmet, trying not to think too hard about what Monta had said, and rather embarrassedly admit, in his mind where Hiruma would hopefully never find out, that if Kakei ever did hit on him he'd probably be too distracted by his eyes to notice.

'Okay, time to stop thinking about all of this stuff! You've got a game to win!' He nodded to himself confidently, pushing all previous trains of thought to the side as he mentally readied himself for the game and made his way towards the entrance to the field.

Seibu's cheerleaders were already doing their thing full force and the cheers coming from their side were nothing short of amazing.

"This is it, the semi-final." Sena said aloud, allowing the cheers from both sides to completely wash away any non-game thoughts that still might be lingering.

"Seibu is super strong, this'll be a tough game." Monta commented in response and Doburoku, who was back to his old self after recovering from his search for Komusubi, snorted.

"Not just a tough game, but as you already know, those guys are on an entirely different level from the 'high school powerhouses' we've faced so far. You'll fight for your lives from the first down!"

Sena nodded in acknowledgement before allowing his eyes to wander over to Seibu's side, locking onto the familiar forms of Kid and Tetsuma.

"Now that we're standing on the same field as Seibu for the first time, it reminds me of when we teamed up for the beach football tournament. Man, that seems like such a long time ago, before the Death March really started."

Monta nodded. "At that time, both Kid-san and Tetsuma-san were on our side and we won. But now the players who helped us win are standing in our way!"

"And so is Riku."

As if he had heard the utterance of his name the fair haired boy turned around to give Sena an assessing look as Kid and Hiruma approached one of the referees for the coin toss.

"_According to the coin toss, Deimon will kick off and Seibu will receive!"_

"Alright, let's get this ball rolling." Hiruma stated as he snapped his helmet on and made his way onto the field, intent on kicking the hell out of the ball.

With prior knowledge that Hiruma's aim wasn't all that great the Deimon players spread themselves out equally, surging forward with their eyes skyward as they kept track of the ball's line of action, trying to plot out where it would land.

Riku got to the ball before anyone else, letting it hit his chest as his hands rushed up to keep it against him. Monta, who had been almost directly across from him at the time, rushed forward to try and tackle him, but Riku tore past him with a running technique Sena hadn't seen him use before.

He made it past midfield, increasing to his maximum speed as Sena and the Huh Huh Brothers dashed towards him, intent on putting a stop to his yard gaining. But it was all for naught.

Riku easily bypassed them with the Rodeo Drive and managed to get a kickoff return touchdown.

Hiruma narrowed his eyes slightly as he appeared to instant-replay Riku's move in his mind's eye.

"He takes a big step without bending his knee and bucks his upper-body for a controlled change of pace. It comes from the running style used by rugby players. Resourceful little guy." Hiruma shrugged and became a little more relaxed.

"But when we're talking about change of pace, we've got an expert on it too, right? The fool who ran around as a gopher for years before he decided to start actually training, and created his own style due to his past experiences."

Sena pointed to himself. "I'm a fool?"

Hiruma cackled. "Of course you are, now go and kick _big brother's _ass! Get ready for the kickoff."

Of course Seibu's kicker was, hands down, better than Hiruma, but that also meant it was slightly easier to predict where the ball was going to go.

Sena managed to reach it first this time and once he had a good grip on the ball he immediately started advancing it into Seibu territory, his team mates using the bump to block off the Seibu players as they tried to open up a path for him.

He made his way through the crowded area by using a mixture of sudden stops and explosive dashes until he managed to bypass nearly everyone and sprint freely.

He threw a quick glance over his shoulder, not wanting to be caught off guard like he had with Mizumachi near the end of the Kyoshin game, and saw Riku speeding after him.

'I can't shake him!' Sena pressed forward, intent on at least keeping the gap between them from closing.

He managed to make it into the end zone with Riku still trailing a couple feet behind him.

"_We've had back to back kickoff return touchdowns in the first forty seconds! This game has gotten off to a wild start from the first whistle!_"

Sena turned, pressing his lips together as he caught sight of Riku smirking at him.

'The harder the challenge, the sweeter the victory.'


	98. Chapter 98

FASH: I know this is super late and short and I'm really sorry, but homework is currently being the bane of my existence again and until I get some of my major projects out of the way updating will probably be a little sporadic.

""-speech

''-thoughts

For a moment Sena wondered if the entire game would be played out this way, with each team steadily gaining points to maintain a constant tie. Then his mind ever so helpfully reminded him that they didn't have a good kicker, so even if they kept scoring touchdown for touchdown, they'd still start falling behind due to the extra point conversions.

''But we've won tough games without Musashi-san before, so this really shouldn't be any different." He whispered under his breath as he got ready for the third kick-off of the game, although he only half believed it.

Hiruma's kick was much lower this time around, _too low_, and just as he had been before, Riku was the first to reach the air-born ball.

Sena barrelled straight at him, surrounded by people on all sides it seemed, but Komusubi managed to reach Riku before him, barrelling into the fair haired boy from his blind spot.

But although Riku had been stopped, he'd still run across practically half the field in one go. They were going to have to try and be a little more aware of Riku whenever he had the ball.

Or, Sena supposed, he'd just have to run forward and stop him faster.

Sena turned away from his inward musings when he saw Riku walk up to him, taking off his helmet as he went.

"You know the old saying, when there's half a beer left in the glass there are those who think it's half full, and those who think it's half empty. Sena, which are you?"

Sena had tensed up at the very thought of alcohol and the knowledge that a very small amount could render him completely drunk. He'd hardly even heard the rest of Riku's statement with his mind screaming: 'Deny! Deny! Deny that ever happened!'

"Well, if you put it that way, I've never had alcohol before." Sena lied, entirely unsure whether he sounded convincing or not and was startlingly grateful when Monta popped in to join the conversation, as he was wont to do.

"I had a sip of eggnog once!" He said with a thumbs up and Riku looked a little irked.

"That's not what I was talking about! You guys are hopeless!" His eyes narrowed, but he continued on anyways.

"You stopped the Rodeo Drive halfway down the field. If Sena hadn't been heading straight at me just now, I would have got another touchdown. Well, it's all right. You only stopped the appetizer, but now it's time for the Seibu offence main dish!"

Taki stepped up behind Riku, his eyebrows furrowed, and Sena couldn't help but think that Riku was going to start getting pissed off that people kept on interrupting their conversations.

"Using beer, appetizers and main dishes as metaphors, eh?" He questioned, prompting Sena to wonder how many people listened in to his conversations.

"Well then, I suppose you think you sound smart, don't you?" Taki finished and Riku gave the taller boy a questioning look.

"He's hopeless, trying to start up a pointless rivalry like that." Monta commented and Sena sighed, wandering away to get into position before Hiruma decided to shoot at him for dawdling.

It turned out that he really didn't need to worry about that though, because Hiruma had become caught up with his own conversation with Kid, trying to rattle the other quarterback a little without much success, although he seemed to be enjoying himself anyways.

Sena found his attention wavering as Kid and Hiruma bantered back and forth, and since he was certain that if he turned to look at Riku his friend would somehow notice and stare back at him, he allowed his gaze to wander over to the stands.

Mizumachi's hair and excessive movement were easy to spot, and beside the blonde Kakei sat with his arms crossed, as dark and broody as ever. The two were practically a living example of yin and yang.

For a moment, Sena pondered if what people said about opposites attracting was true, then he turned his attention back to what Hiruma and Kid were speaking about.

"I'm just going to throw the ball. Not gonna think too much and let you psyche me out."

'Good plan, Kid-san. Very good plan.'

"Heh, you're a cautious little doggy." Hiruma said in closing, clearly amused by Kid's behaviour. He probably thought of it as a personal challenge to get Kid riled up again, like he had when the blonde had insulted Tetsuma.

Personally, Sena never wanted to see that side of Kid again, but Hiruma was rather unstoppable when it came to this sort of thing.

'Well, at least there's never a dull moment around him.' Sena mused with a slight smile before the game finally started back up again.

Said smile was quickly wiped off his face, although he really hadn't expected it to be on long anyways.

During the next play Hiruma attempted to sac Kid from his blind spot, probably banking on the idea that no one had been able to sac the other quarterback before, so no one would expect him to try. But Kid's pass was fast, even faster than usual, to the point of it seeming invisible, and he managed to throw the ball to Riku before Hiruma had the chance to knock him down.

Thankfully Ishimaru was able to stop Riku's progress before he got too far with the ball, but he'd still been able to gain another down.

"You bastard. You hid it till now, didn't you, you faker?!" Hiruma asked as he strode up to Kid, a smirk clear on his face behind the protective bars of his helmet.

"Not intentionally. Nothing good comes from being overestimated." Kid assured, the corner of his lips tugging upwards in a very slight smile.

Monta watched the exchange with a quirked eyebrow before pumping his fist into the air excitedly.

"It looks like we'll have to use our anti-shotgun weapon!" He said, pushing his arms out in front of him and Sena nodded in agreement, eyes not straying from Kid and Hiruma, too curious as to what might happen next.

Hiruma held out a hand to Kid, as if to shake, but a familiar deck of cards somehow appeared in the previously empty palm.

Even Kid looked a little surprised by that, of course it wasn't everyday someone decided to do magic tricks right in front of your face.

Hiruma fanned out the cards. "This is Deimon's play-book for today." He tossed them over his shoulder and let them flutter to the ground.

On the bench Mamori pulled a face at the action, she'd probably try and lecture Hiruma for littering after the game.

"It's all planned on your quick-draw being zero point two seconds. Now I have to change them all, ya fucking bushy-brows."

Kid stared at him for a long moment before bringing his hand up to the top of his helmet, as if he were adjusting his usual hat. "You make a big deal out of everything to get into our heads and shake us up. The cards, the weapons, even your scary hairdo and piercings are probably all part of the plan. The stronger the impact, the more we're shaken. I'm starting to see a method to your madness."

If it was possible for Sena to have any more respect than he already had for the older boy, then Kid definitely would have earned it right then and there. Most people only saw the madness and were too freaked out to observe Hiruma long enough to discover a method.

Hiruma didn't look nearly as impressed, and Doburoku let out a gruff laugh from where he was sitting on the bench.

"Unsettling the enemy is the underdog's strategy. You have to come at them from every angle!"

"I think we may be able to manage that." Sena said, mostly to himself.

"Of course!" Taki threw his leg up into the air gracefully. "After all, we trained with our hands cuffed!"

"... Please don't remind me about that."


	99. Chapter 99

FASH: Thank you so much to everyone who has been patient for this next chapter to get up, I'm not sure when I'll have time for the next one, but in a couple of weeks I'll for sure be able to get back in the swing of things.

""-speech

''-thoughts

Kuroki and Monta seemed to be especially eager to show off their bumping skills and Mamori was eager to cheer everyone's attempts on by reminding them of all the practice they had done in order to perfect it. Although shouting out: "Remember yesterday at the game center!" was probably not the best thing to say while the opposing team's listening skills were in tacked.

Riku, from where he was standing across from Sena a solid fifteen feet away, turned to him in clear shock.

"Game center... Yesterday? What were you doing the day before the game?"

Sena felt his cheeks heat up at the incredulous tone Riku had adopted to ask the question and was vastly grateful that his eyeshield covered up the blush.

"It's not what you think, really!" He attempted to assure the fair haired boy, and Riku just gave him a dry, unconvinced look in return.

"We weren't there for very long at all, just for a bit before our normal practice started up. We were just practising how to pierce hearts on a modified boxing machine!"

He hadn't even thought it was completely necessary to practice like that, although he supposed the boxing machine was a fair bit more stationary than the other equipment they'd been using to practice the bumps, so it was more like pushing someone than moving around furniture.

Still, mentioning it made them seem awfully laid back.

"Pierce hearts?" Riku repeated, and it seemed like he would have liked to ask a little more on that subject, had he not needed to shift his focus to the game.

He found out what Sena meant soon enough anyways as the Devil Bats began displaying their particular, one handed bump on Seibu's receiving team, effectively knocking them out and rending Kid unable to pass.

The small victory was enough to raise mostly everyone spirits, except for Monta, who seemed oddly out of sorts.

"Monta? What's up?" Sena asked slowly as he followed his friend's line of sight to see what Monta was staring at.

"During the play just now, I didn't get to bump." Monta replied just as Sena's eyes landed on Tetsuma.

'Ah, I see.'

"His route slipped out to the side this time, but you'll be able to get him next time." Sena cheerily patted Monta on the back while Hiruma tossed a look in their direction.

"Next time it's for real, you fucking monkey." He called, as if he suspected Monta needed to take this more seriously than he already was. "You-know-who is yours to stop."

For one treacherous second the name 'Voldemort' flashed through Sena's head and he had to bite his lip to keep himself from making any suspiciously amused noises.

The amusement was short lived however, mostly because he caught sight of Tetsuma stiffly walking down the sidelines, looking a little more intimidating than usual with his constant deep-set frown combined with his football gear.

And as fate would have it, Sena wasn't the only one who noticed him walking nearby.

Monta seemed to immediately perk up and, with a fiery determination in his eyes, he began addressing the older boy.

"Tetsuma-sempai!" He called loudly, appearing to mentally pat himself on the back when his rival paused before continuing. "I remember now, how at the beach football tournament the two of us were a legendary catching combo." He rubbed his finger against the bridge of his nose, seeming to ignore Kuroki and Toganou's disbelieving remarks of:

"Legendary? Where?"

"In his head."

"Don't think my skills are the same as they were then! Today I'll beat you, Tetsuma-sempai, and prove that I'm the best receiver in Tokyo!" He finished dramatically, waiting for Tetsuma to acknowledge his challenge with a nod or a blink or _anything_ really.

A long, still stretch of silence ensued before Kid softly suggested that maybe Tetsuma should say something back.

Tetsuma opened his mouth to begin. "I..."

"Whoa! He talks!" Monta interrupted, eyes wide with surprise.

"Of course he does." Kid responded dryly and Sena fruitlessly tried to think of a time before now where he'd heard the overly stoic boy speak.

"... Will complete my mission." Tetsuma finished and Monta's attention snapped back to him, although he didn't appear as shocked as before. "I have no interest in anything you may try to do. Your defence is irrelevant. I'll keep to my designated route. I'll receive the pass at the designated point. That is all." He finished monotonously and Monta narrowed his eyes at him, commenting under his breath about the coldness of his gaze before turning around and moodily taking his place.

As expected, during the next play Tetsuma was running a route that allowed Monta to run into his path and with a not entirely chivalrous cry of: "Eat this! The heart bump!" thrust his hand forward in an effort to stop Tetsuma in his tracks.

Said effort failed and Monta fell to the side when Tetsuma's momentum pushed him off balance. Sena attempted to stop him with a second-too-late tackle which ended up with his arms wrapped around one of Tetsuma's legs, being dragged along the ground for several yards until he couldn't hold on anymore.

Needless to say, Tetsuma got a touchdown, and Monta seemed to get more fired up.

If he couldn't prove his worth with his bump, he'd just have to do it the old fashioned way, with an amazing catch during the next play.

After the snap it seemed as if the entirety of the Seibu team rushed forward to try to find and exploit any weakness in Deimon's line, attacking even while they were on defence.

"This is Seibu, Sena. Take damage to give damage!" Riku shouted while he rushed in, but Sena wasn't the one to answer him.

"Hoo! Interesting. The more I hear your policies, the more they match Deimon's." Hiruma replied as he stretched back his arm in preparation for the pass.

"That's right, everybody!" Kurita immediately shouted in agreement.

"You're not the only damn super-offensive team!" Kuroki added, and the tone of his voice made it seem like, if he had been not gritting his teeth with the effort of keeping Seibu back, he would have been sneering at them for underestimating the Devil Bats.

"Even if we give up ninety nine points, we'll win with one hundred!" Kurita finished, slamming his hands against the two linemen directly in front of him and knocking them down.

Hiruma launched the ball, which easily sailed by various hands that tried to smack it down until it came to an abrupt stop against Monta's chest as he leapt into the air.

He quickly wrapped his arms tight around it as he fell back down and although he was tackled soon afterwards, he still managed to get a first down.

He quickly leapt up to his feet and, pointing skyward with his usual amount of determination, declared: "I'll get back the points I lost!" While Kuroki whacked his back lightly

"Good job, monkey!"

Monta frowned at the nickname and looked about ready to throw a minor fit about it, but he was interrupted when Hiruma began kicking the backsides of the linemen, much to their uncomfortable surprise.

"Heh! You guys, too! When the line is perfectly solid like now, even the impossible pass can get through."

Juumonji crossed his arms and looked pretty self-satisfied while the others expressed their triumph in a more vocal and movement oriented way.

"Yo, Deimon... I never expected you to grow so much." A voice suddenly interrupted and they turned to see number ninety four, Seibu's captain, staring them down.

"I've finally found prey worth killing with these twin horns of mine!" He said boastfully, showing off his large arms.

Rather uninterested in what the large number ninety four player was boasting about and eager to start up the game again, the Devil Bats as a whole got into position and paid him no mind.

"Set."

"H-hey! At least listen when I'm talking!" He cried out, but when it was clear that Hiruma most certainly wouldn't stop for anything, least of all him, he grudgingly got into position.


	100. Chapter 100

FASH: Here we are, going into triple digits! And I'll be able to update regularly again after this because all my school stuff is almost done. Woo!

""-speech

''-thoughts

Seibu's captain crouched in front of Juumonji with a small frown at having to refrain from his boasting to the entire team, although he seemed to be contenting himself by talking at Juumonji.

"You'll know if you look at the tournament chart." He began with a smirk. "All the lines we've faced so far were full of holes."

Juumonji cocked an eyebrow at him, as if to tell him to concentrate on more important matters. But alas, the ball had yet to be snapped, and Ushijima kept on going.

"I didn't even need to use the techniques I learned in America. I've been bored to death. That wildly bucking bull you guys brought to the ranch gave me an idea. The thought of killing you guys gives me chills. I'm so happy!"

Juumonji frowned and looked about ready to retort, but the ball was put in motion before he could and Ushijima was finally given the chance to prove that he wasn't all talk.

"Take this! The twin horns!" He yelled as he slammed one arm against Juumonji's side with seemingly enough force to bruise his ribs, but he wasn't done yet. He brought around his left arm in a swift arc, rotating his midsection for more strength as he slammed his elbow against Juumonji's chest and knocked him back. He then pushed his way past the other linemen and sacked Hiruma causing an incomplete pass when the ball slipped from the blonde quarterback's fingers at the impact.

Sena pursed his lips in thought for a moment, slowly connecting Ushijima's technique with his hazy memory of the broken top of the fence on the ranch.

'I hope no one got splinters in their arms during that training...'

"Ow! Oww! My bones are broken!" Kuroki cried uneasily from where he'd been pushed to the ground, his arms wrapped around his midsection protectively.

"Bones can't be broken that easily, ya fucking fishlips." Hiruma calmly shot back.

"Ah! When did they each get their own nickname?!" Sena asked curiously.

"No idea, but at least it's a step up from being a single entity, right?" Monta responded dryly, ignoring the sullen look Kuroki shot him from over his shoulder.

"I supose you're right, since they really did seem to hate being called brothers and all." Sena stretched his arms above his head and leaned back. "Although it does make me wonder what Juumonji-kun and Toganou-kun's nicknames are."

"We'll probably find out soon enough."

"I suppose that's true." Sena finished his stretching and turned to look at their number 51, 52 and 53 players and was slightly surprised to see that Juumonji was mumbling to himself under his breath.

Kuroki and Toganou, who were both close enough to hear what he was saying, seemed surprised as well, which only served to heighten Sena's curiousity.

Finally Juumonji got up and spoke in a louder voice directed to his long time friends.

"Old man Doburoku taught us the proper way to block. This'll be a little different." He cracked his kuckles as Kuroki and Toganou followed his lead and got back up to their feet.

"If you think about it..." The blonde continued with a look that Sena would try to deny made his heart skip a beat. "They went out of their way-"

"To pick a fight on our turf." Toganou piped up, finishing Juumonji's sentence with complete confidence.

"We can't let that pass, can we?" Kuroki questioned with a grim looking smile.

"He sure recovered from his 'broken bones' quickly." Monta whispered and Sena had to bite his lip to hold back a chuckle that he was sure would ruin the moment.

Ushijima, having taken notice of the three's newfound motivation, got into position with a large smirk on his face. "Hey, you guys, you're still standing after I hit you with my twin horns. You guys really _are _worth killing!"

Alas, his comments were comletely ignored as Kuroki bent down to look Komusubi in the eye. "Listen up, we might lose at the bench press, but when it comes to punch speed, we're much faster."

"Hey! I told you to listen when I'm talking!" Ushijima complained loudly, although he didn't have time to say anything else before the play began.

He once again moved towards Juumonji, holding out his right arm with a cry of: "Twin horns!"

But things didn't go according to plan this time around.

Juumonji raised an arm to block the path of Ushijima's with the ease of someone who was used to fighting before smashing his right palm near the centre of the other boy's chest, causing him to fall back.

"I've opened up a route. Take it Sena!"

He certainly didn't need to be told twice. Sena quickly dashed through the opening in the center of the line, easily bypassing several of Seibu's backs before Riku came in sight, barrelling straight at him.

'We seem equally fast right now but... No, right now I'm a little faster... Really?' Sena refrained from allowing his eyebrows to shoot up in surpirse. 'Then I can pass him with the Devil Bat Ghost!'

But just as was starting to step into it Riku leaned down lowly, practically right in front of him.

"But Sena, you can't beat me yet." Was all he said before lifting up a hand, smacking the ball out of Sena's grip and sprinting to where it was headed, managing to get there and grab onto the ball not even a full second before Monta and Sena. But he still managed to get there first, and it was now Seibu's ball.

Sena dusted himself off, more out of a need to appear less shocked than out of concern for cleanliness, mind racing. 'Before I knew it, he was right there, did Riku suddenly get faster? I see, he changes pace, even on a tackle. The Rodeo Drive is amazing.'

"You're pathetic Sena." Riku's condescending tone reached his ears and Sena slowly turned around to look at the glaring boy.

"Our speed is almost the same, so what's the difference between us, Sena?"

Sena opened and closed his mouth wordlessly for a few moments before he managed to answer. "Leg... Length?"

"Wrong."

"Hair colour!" Monta shouted as he joined in.

"Wrong!" Riku angrily replied, sending a glare in Monta's direction, probably to urge him to stop joining in on his and Sena's conversations. But Monta didn't budge.

"It's pride." RIku said as he turned around and Sena tensed up a little at the word.

Pride made him think of Agon and other people who seemed completely ego-centric, he didn't want to be like that.

Riku whirled back around and thumped a fist lightly against Sena's chest.

"For an instant you instinctively tried to protect yourself from my tackle. Which you did well, but pride means saying, 'I won't lose to anyone'. You've got to sacrifice yourself for the ball."

Riku turned around and Sena stared at his retreating form for several long moments.

'Did he... Just give me a hint? Maybe the reason why Riku's talking down to me is because he knows I can do better, and he wants to see his student thrive.'

Or at least he hoped that was why.

The game went on with Seibu continuing it's expected offensive charge, even when the unexpected occured when Hiruma himself ran forward to blitz Kid, even though he knew it wouldn't work against him.

The zone he had been guarding was now wide open due to his blitz and Kid easily tossed the ball to the number six reciever who'd been in the open area.

During the next play Taki and Sena blitzed, and once again Kid was able to pass the ball for a seven yard gain before they could stop him.

"You're persistant aren't you?" He asked in a lazy sounding drawl, clearly unafraid of their current recklessness.

"Hiruma-kun..." Kurita began good-naturedly, albeit a bit nervous. "Don't you think we should-"

"Don't think, just keep blitzing hard! We'll grind that fucking bushy brows into the dirt!"

During the next play it was Monta who ran forward to blitz, only to be stopped by Riku before he could even reach Kid.

No doubt some of the more knowledgable people in the stands were trying to figure out why Hiruma was acting so imprudently, it almost made Sena want to smile, although he bit down the urge, wary that it would lead someone to believe that something was up.

They'd find out soon enough, anyways.

During the next play it was Kuroki who ran forward, and with everyone so focussed on the blitz and the players who were too busy blocking people to cover other people's zone's, no one seemed to noticed that Kurita shifted and faded back, making a giant wall appear in a supposedly open space.

Kid's speed had picked up since the first time he'd been blitzed, so by continueing to blitz him they had cut down his time to notice Kurita's trap, and Kid's arm had already finished swinging in it's arc when Kurita was in place.

Supposedly now all Kurita would have to do was intercept the pass, something he'd been training to do for months, but there was a slight complication with this plan.

The ball wasn't heading his way, in fact, he couldn't see it anywhere in the sky.

By the time he and the others noticed that the ball was nowhere to be found Kid was already barreling forward, having made the passing motion without throwing the ball, then running the ball himself by going through the hole where Kurita had been.

Hiruma was the first to notice and run after him, practically right on his tail, but due to play after play of failed blitzing Kid had already been not too far off from the end zone to start with, so a short sprint was all that he needed to reach the area behind Kurita, and Hiruma wasn't given the time to catch up.

"Touchdown!"


	101. Chapter 101

FASH: I keep loosing track of time, I'm going to get so confused during summer vacation. Anyways, let's try and get this game mostly over with so I can move on to the fun stuff I have planed for afterwards.

""-speech

''-thoughts

Well, this certainly hadn't been the outcome expected of the zone blitz, and with that plan effectively snubbed, there really wasn't any other surprise moves that they could confidently try to pull off. All that was left to try now was a last-ditch, head-on battle. They were still in the first half, but they were twenty points behind.

Quite frankly, it sucked.

And the announcers weren't really helping either.

"_Will the Deimon Devil Bats finally run out of steam here at the semifinals?_"

Sena frowned at the comment and resisted the urge to shout 'no', but there were certain people who never resisted the urge to voice their opinion, even if it meant stealing other people's microphones.

Kotarou was one such a person.

"Get real..." Was faintly heard from the speakers before a shuffling sound broke out, followed by some louder speech.

"It's not over yet, Deimon's still got _that guy_! You know that, don't you? If there's a smart trump card who can change this hopeless situation, it's you! It was the same with my team... Wimpy Deimon tried super hard to climb up this far."

Monta furrowed his eyes brows and looked about ready to loudly protest about the 'wimpy' comment, but Sena held up a hand to stop him, knowing Kotarou hadn't meant anything bad by it.

Also, it was nearly impossible to stop Kotarou when he was on a roll anyways, especially when the topic concerned Musashi.

"They're all bloody... And clinging to the throat of the invincible Seibu! Are you really going to abandon them?! Can you live with yourself?!"

More scuffing sounds became apparent as security guards attempted to take Kotarou away, but the dark haired boy wasn't done yet.

"You can hear me, can't you?! Musashi! Show them the power of your kicking!"

A rather cringe-worthy sound was emitted from the speakers as Kotarou dropped the microphone and was dragged away by a pair of security guards. Once he was completely out of the way a miffed looking referee blew his whistle to grab back everyone's attention.

"The game will resume!" He called loudly sending a dark look towards the stands where Kotarou was currently being chained up by Otawara.

It was almost like an act of fate, that Kotarou had done his rant about Musashi right when he had, because during Seibu's next play they successfully got a field goal.

'Well, this is pretty disheartening...' But it wasn't like there was anything he could really do about it, and Sena highly doubted that Musashi had somehow been able to hear Kotarou's speech and would be spurred into action due to it.

"_Seibu twenty nine, Deimon six, are these the points that will decide the game?_" 'Machine Gun' Sanada loudly asked as Sena was tackled to the ground by several opposing players after managing to move the ball six yards forward.

Despite the near-hopeless appearance of the situation, Sena couldn't help but oppose what the announcer was saying.

"We still have a fighting chance to win." He said, mostly to himself, as he stood back up and glanced around, pausing when he noticed Monta was looking in his direction. "After all, Hiruma-san never fights when the odds are zero percent, and he hasn't given up yet!" His lips quirked upwards. "So we can't give up either."

Besides, if he lost here then how was he supposed to prove himself to the people who still thought he needed protection? And how would they get Musashi back?

And so they fought on, exuberant as always, until they finally neared the end of the first half and were trying to figure out what they could possibly do for their final play.

They had some time, and if they managed to get any points at all, even if they relied on Hiruma's all-force, no-aim kick, it would give them a better chance for a comeback in the second half.

But the goal was still so far away, forty five yards, which was no easy distance for a high schooler, especially one who's speciality wasn't kicking.

"_Hiruma's just-smash-it kick will never make it. So what are you gonna do, Deimon?!_"

'Or, to be more specific, if Hiruma-san tried kicking from this distance, he'd probably end up knocking an audience member out from the force he'd try to put behind it.' Sena tried to smile at his inward musings, but couldn't quite manage it.

It was hard to stay completely optimistic in this sort of situation.

But then _it_ happened.

The clouds didn't suddenly break apart to shower light upon a small patch of field, the crowd didn't go completely silent, time did not stop, no sudden winds started blowing and no epic music burst forth from mysterious places, but that didn't make the moment any less amazing.

They heard the slamming of a car door and turned, in unison, to see Musashi in a Deimon High School uniform walking towards them, tugging the bandana away from his head.

Hiruma drew out a watch from somewhere and stared at the hands for a moment before letting out a dry laugh.

"You're late. In fact, you're thirteen thousand two hundred and ninety seven hours and forty nine minutes late."

"Sorry to keep you waiting." Musashi replied evenly as he stepped closer.

"Mu... Sashi?" Kurita weakly uttered before he began tearing up. "Musashi!"

Hiruma somewhat fondly rolled his eyes at the larger boy's behaviour before tossing Musashi his kicking tee, apparently he'd been carrying it around in an inter-dimensional sub-space pocket the entire time.

"Here's the kicking tee that you were going to use. It's an antique you know. It's still got dirt from way back on it."

"S-save the melodrama for later! This is no time for crying!" Kurita who was, ironically enough, crying, spoke up. "This is the last kick in the first half. If we don't make it, we have no chance of winning!"

"You're the one that's crying though..." Toganou pointed out, although Kurita didn't seem to hear him.

"Heh. He was like a limp balloon just a few minutes ago, but now he's showing some leadership." Hiruma crossed his arms and smirked deviously before turning back to Musashi.

"Quit standing around and change into your uniform, fucking old man, before I decide to give you some _incentive_ to move faster."

"Well, since you put it that way, I guess I'd better hurry it up." Musashi replied with the ease of someone who was used to Hiruma's threats and moods before moving to a secluded area to quickly change.

When he came back everyone began moving into position, although Sena was having a hard time getting over his shock.

How often did this sort of thing happen in reality? One of your allies coming around to help you right when you needed them the most, even though they'd been pretty much avoiding you before?

Not often, not often at all.

'This is oddly spontaneous. Did Musashi-san actually hear Kotarou-san's ranting?'

If so, well then... Thank you, Kotarou, for helping bring the original Deimon trio back together.

"What a coincidence..." Hiruma spoke up as he knelt down. "The distance to the pole is forty five yards. That last kick that we had to give up was exactly like this."

Kurita nodded excitedly in agreement. "It's like time is starting back up again!"

"Since you haven't played for a year and a half, you're out of shape, you fucking old man."

"Don't make me laugh, you idiot."

Sena smiled lightly as he overheard the banter going on between the second years before strolling forward to stand beside Monta.

"We'll block them no matter what. This is Musashi-san's first kick after his return. If we don't block and Musashi-san can't kick, that'll be so sad, it's not even funny!"

"All right! Block MAX!" Monta pumped a fist into the air wholeheartedly. "We're not gonna let Seibu rain on our parade right after Musashi-san has come back!"

And so the game started up again with Musashi quickly and skilfully kicking the ball right through the middle of the uprights of the goal post. It was almost as if he had never stopped playing.

"It went in!" Monta leapt around like a hyper active child.

"Finally, since that first touchdown..."

"Puh-points!"

"_The Deimon Devil Bats, with the appearance of a mysterious kicker, have come up with three points! Could it be? No, no way, it can't be! The legendary 'sixty-yard-magnum', Musashi?!_"

Up in the stands Kotarou seemed to have escaped the chains he'd been tied up in and was making a loud fuss, although Musashi seemed to be ignoring it rather well.

"Musashi!" Kurita lunged forward, clearly intent on giving Musashi the most dangerous bear-hug known to man-kind, which was something the other second year couldn't ignore.

He quickly side stepped out of the way, leaving Kurita to grab onto the front of his truck instead, and begin to _crush_ it.

"Well, I guess that puts an end to me going back to work." Musashi stated rather calmly as he watched the destruction taking place.

"But finally, we're all back together again." Sena let out a small sigh, happy that he at least didn't have to worry about the Musashi situation anymore.

"Right!" Monta piped up. "Finally, here on this bench, the Deimon Devil Bats are all here!"

And more than ready to start the second half.


	102. Chapter 102

FASH: I tried bubble tea for the first time, it was good! :) Anyways, I want to try getting into the habit of writing longer chapters during the summer, so here we go. The second half of the game is really compressed, sort of, since it's an entire volume in about seven pages, but you all know what happens anyways.

""-speech

''-thoughts

Musashi strode over to where Doburoku was standing, giving a respectful bow to the man.

"Sensei, pardon my shameful behaviour, but I'm back on the field."

Doburoku grumbled something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like a rather pleased 'welcome back' before Kurita leapt forward to gain Musashi's attention once again.

"Look! I have a cake for celebration!" He cried happily, carefully removing a small box from his duffel bag. "I've kept it for a year and a half, for the day we three would be together again!"

Musashi held up a dismissive hand. "No thanks. It's probably all moldy. I'll pass."

"Wow, he rejected it so cooly!"

"He's a samurai type for sure!"

Kurita looked about to protest, when the box, and the fuzzy remains inside, met a swift end by gunfire.

Taki and Monta, who'd barely been able to bend and jump out of the way of the oncoming bullet, threw disbelieving stares over their shoulders at the obvious source.

Hiruma was spinning around what appeared the be a shotgun and pulling the trigger every several seconds.

Needless to say, the people in the stands directly across from him immediately began rushing to the sides.

Jaws dropped at the display, unused to seeing Hiruma shoot in the general direction of the audience.

"Oh.... That." Musashi spoke up upon seeing everyone's expressions. "You know the things you do when you're on the phone or thinking things over? For him it's like spinning a pencil."

"A-haha! He's right."

"Yeah, I get it I gues- No! It's not that kind of thing!" Sena protested.

"It's dangerous MAX!" Monta agreed and Musashi shrugged his shoulders.

"That's just how it is."

"Still, it's odd..." Yukimitsu began, watching with a somewhat fond smile as Mamori put a stop the the spinning. "I never thought of Hiruma-kun having habits like that. I have this image of him quietly calculating until he figures it out."

"Really? He used to do that all the time." Kurita said. "I guess he stopped after Musashi left."

Sena cast a curious glance at the blonde on the bench, who was still holding onto the shotgun even though Mamori had forced him to stop fiddling around with it.

'So Hiruma-san fiddling around with guns like that helps him think? I suppose it suits him... But does this mean he's come up with a plan for the second half?' He rubbed at the back of his neck thoughtfully, and he wasn't the only one eager to figure out what Hiruma had in store for them.

"So! What do we do in the second half?" Kuroki asked, cracking his knuckles as if he were preparing himself for a fist fight.

"At least now we have a kicker." Toganou comment while rubbing at his eyes distractedly.

"Twenty points in the second half is not exactly easy to score." Juumonji finished, half-heartedly drinking some water.

"Heh, what would you do if it were you?" Hiruma questioned back with sly smile.

"What would I do...?" Sena repeated slowly, not entirely understanding.

"Do you mean what strategy would we use to turn the tables?" Monta questioned and Hiruma nodded.

"Hmm. We're already twenty points behind..." Sena noted, glancing at the scoreboard with a little unease. "And considering the time left..."

"That's it! Consecutive big-bang, super-long passes! It's the only chance for us to close the gap at once!" Monta spoke up excitedly.

"That's not wrong per se..." Hiruma absentmindedly interjected before chomping down on a piece of gum.

"All right! Catch max! It's show-time for a real man-"

"You'd have been right before the fucking old man returned." Hiruma finished and Monta visibly deflated.

"In fact, Monta's plan would have been the only option before." Doburoku said, stroking at his chin thoughtfully and Hiruma glanced over to Seibu's side for a moment before turning back, suddenly looking irked.

"Hey, fucking shrimp! Why'd you let Riku strip the ball away?!"

"I-I'm sorry!"

Hiruma leaned forward, holding a card between his index and middle fingers. "If we go ahead with _this_ plan the second half will be hell for you. Even so, can you assure me you won't lose the ball?"

Sena's eyes widened minutely, but he pressed his lips together in grim determination. "I won't." He replied steadily, plucking the card out of Hiruma's grasp and glancing at it. The picture depicted an explosion destroying a brick wall, a blast.

"Now it's the second half! Let's catch up!" Suzuna cheered vigourously from the sidelines.

"Catch up?" Kurita repeated slowly. "Wrong! We're taking the lead!" And with that Kurita strode towards the field, almost visibly steaming. Apparently Musashi's comeback didn't have just Hiruma reverting to his old self.

This was going to be fun.

The game started up again and already it was easy to see that Deimon's playing style had changed drastically. Play after play had Sena running behind a worked up Kurita, moving through the high-traffic zone several yards at a time, advancing little by little. As long as they advanced ten yards every three downs they'd be fine, and with Kurita ahead of him, tearing through the line as he was, Sena was sure they'd be able to reach ten yards.

Still, getting their first down was a relief, proving that they'd be able to keep on advancing, but in any case...

"Our only problem is time." Sena concluded aloud.

"It's a twenty point gap, right?" Monta questioned before metaphorically putting on his thinking cap. "Six points for every touchdown, so... Let's see... Four times? If we don't score four touchdowns in the second half, we can't win."

Sena pursed his lips together. "... Three... I see!"

"What? Did you figure something out?" Monta questioned with wide eyes.

"Musashi-san's come back so we can get one bonus point from the kick after the touchdowns. That means a touchdown will be seven points and we only need three touchdowns to catch up!" He finished excitedly.

"Well, yeah... Everybody already knew that..." Juumonji spoke up and Sena felt himself blush.

Maybe he should study a bit more, to keep his brain cells from dying, and to keep himself from looking like an idiot.

"Whoa, he's right!"

"Amazing! How'd you figure that out?!"

Well, at least the majority of his team mates were unaware of his current lack of brain power. And thankfully since it was only a three touchdown gap, even if they were advancing slowly with the blast they'd still have enough time.

They continued on again, occasionally spicing things up with a pass or two when Seibu least expected it and generally doing fairly well, although the Wild Gunmen were able to score a couple touchdowns themselves as well.

By the time three minutes were left it was forty four to thirty five in Seibu's favour, and they were taking advantage of the twenty five seconds they were allowed to start each play to eat up the remaining time. It was aggravating, but strategy was strategy, and considering who came up with Deimon's strategy's, they probably didn't have a right to complain.

Speaking of Hiruma, he was glancing over at Mamori who was signing to him from the bench, and quickly called everyone into a huddle.

"_Mushanokoji Shien_ is a genius." He began. "Without a doubt, he's well aware of the success rate of every pass. That's why I can read him. It's not one hundred percent, but for the most part, I can predict the best pattern he'll use in order to waste time."

"As the remaining time winds down, the team in the lead goes into a winning mode, and they have fewer offensive options, right?" Musashi questioned, glancing at the opposing team over his shoulder.

"I see... The real battle starts once the time starts running out! That's why in the second half we used my 'blast' to advance, even though it used a lot of time."

"All of that was preparation to read this pass?" Sena asked and Hiruma nodded.

"And now it's the moment of truth for cutting off the pass and stealing the ball." Monta finished, eyebrows furrowed in determination.

"From the beginning this has been our only chance! Let's go out there and give 'em hell! Fucking monkey, the pass route will be _hitch. _Don't look at Tetsuma, follow Kid! His eyes and movements and the balls movements."

Monta nodded, looking even more determined than he had a moment ago. So far in the 'catching showdown' he'd been one-upped by Tetsuma one too many times, this time he'd prove himself.

When the play finally began he raced forward, diving along with Tetsuma as the older boy caught the ball.

But Monta's target hadn't been the ball. Instead he'd taken hold of two of the fingers on Tetsuma's right hand and with a shocking cry of: "The title of number one catcher! I'll never hand it over!" He flung Tetsuma's hand away with all the strength he could muster.

The ball seemed to be suspended in the air for a second before it started it's decent, then bouncing upward only to be caught and held tightly to Sena's chest as he dashed forward, eyes eagerly searching out a path for himself.

It wasn't long before Riku was ahead of him, so far he hadn't been able to get past the fair haired boy, but if he managed it this time he'd be able to get a touchdown, and they _really _needed a touchdown.

So he just barrelled straight at him, right now it was sink or swim, and Sena had no intention to drown.

Riku lunged forward, a hand already pushing at his shoulder, and just like that Sena twisted away to the side, running past Riku as he moved forward from his own momentum, and in seconds he found himself crossing into the end zone. And with Musashi's kick after the touchdown, they'd earned another seven points.

It was now forty four to forty two with one minute remaining, with just a two point difference, one kick could turn the tables.

"_With just over sixty seconds left, the game will end the moment the ball fall's into Seibu's hands!_"

"That's right. Seibu doesn't have to do anything for twenty five seconds on each of their three remaining plays, to eat up the rest of the remaining time." Juumonji reminded them with a frown.

"B-but it's our turn to kick. Then it'll be Seibu's ball, right?" Sena asked, just for a little extra assurance. He really didn't like their time eating strategy.

"Then what are we gonna do? It means we're definitely gonna lose!" Monta exclaimed before Musashi calmly strode forward, towards the ball that had been placed on a new kicking tee.

"All we can do is an onside kick."

"An onside kick?" Monta parroted, cocking his head to the side curiously.

"Usually on kickoff we kick the ball as deep as possible into the enemy's territory. But on an onside kick we kick the ball right into the enemy's front line." The second year explained calmly.

"But wouldn't it be better to kick the ball to the enemy's goal line?"

"You stupid monkey! No matter how far it's kicked, the moment the ball falls into Seibu's hand, we lose. But if we can get the ball, we can turn the table with a field goal. We'll kick the ball right into the middle of the enemy. And during the commotion we'll take it back!"

"Ha! So it's that simple." Kuroki grinned easily, although Toganou and Juumonji seemed to be taking the situation more seriously.

"Eleven players from each team will fight over the ball-"

"And the one who gets it will be-"

"The winner." Sena finished.

"_This is indeed a primitive battle!"_

_"_Here we go, are you guys ready?" Musashi asked, Hiruma snorted.

"Don't make any mistakes, fucking old man."

Sena glanced at Hiruma from the corner of his eye before moving to Musashi, then Kurita.

'Those three are finally together, it's their last chance. One way or another, we've got to win this game!'

And then Musashi kicked.

It bounced and passed Riku who lunged after it and hit it higher into the air, although Sena quickly tackled him before the ball could fall back down into the fair haired boy's arms. Kid was busy pushing Monta aside, but Hiruma quickly rushed towards him to free the receiver up.

Now unhindered, Monta raced for the ball and leapt, hands latching on to it just as Tetsuma's did, both trying the wrench the ball away from the other.

If it came down to only a battle of strength, there was no doubt that Tetsuma would win, but Monta had a different advantage. His fingers were on the laces, while Tetsuma was only gripping the ball at it's ends.

They hit the ground and Monta ripped the ball away, then everyone began to run forward to block and open up a path for him, only to find that Seibu's players weren't even trying to stop him.

Seconds later, a ref blew his whistle.

"Down! Seibu's ball!"

"Wh-why?"

"Didn't Monta get it?"

"Although both players had possession of the ball, the moment Tetsuma-kun's shoulder touched the ground it was determined a catch and down for the receiving team, Seibu!" The referee explained. "This means the play ended at that point. Possession goes to the Seibu Wild Gunmen!"

Monta quickly turned to see how much time remained, crossing his fingers and biting his lip, praying that the last play hadn't taken as long as it seemed.

Twenty two second were left, and Seibu stood there, already celebrating, as Deimon watched the seconds slowly go by, like sand running through an hourglass, until nothing was left.

Every one of the Devil Bats was upset, but none so much as Monta, who stared at the ball in his hands sullenly, fingers twitching against the laces.

"What are you talking about?" He mumbled to himself. "I got it. The ball, I got it." He said louder before facing the referee and tearing off his helmet. "I haven't lost yet! I won! I got it! I promised Honjyo-san that I'd become the greatest catcher. See? I really won!" Tears were beginning to form in his eyes and his voice began taking on a more desperate tone.

"... Until the final lineup, the game is not over."

"Shut up! You think you can end it?!" He tossed the ball to the ground, sounding angry and heartbroken at the same time. "We're going to the Christmas Bowl! I'll be damned if I let you end it here! I won't let a clown like you end it all on some rule that nobody knows."

The ref, who had once had a somewhat understanding look on his face, allowed a dark look to settle over his features.

Hiruma and Musashi both started running forward, intent on forcing the boy into silence before he went too far.

"Read the rule book! It's written in there, right? I got the ball! Stop messing around, dammit! You stu-" Just as he was about the cross the line he was cut off, not by Hiruma or Musashi's hands, but by Tetsuma, who knee tackled him, forcing him to fall to the ground.

Monta sat on the ground, stunned, until Musashi patted his shoulder.

"Later, say thank you to Tetsuma."

"Heh. I don't know why he helped us but if it weren't for Tetsuma, our butt's would've been toast. This is our bona fide last chance. The consolation match."

"Huh?! Consolation match?"

"What's that?"

Musashi gave Hiruma a disbelieving look. "What, you haven't told them how the tournament works?"

"Damn straight. If they knew beforehand, they would've lightened up."

Sena blinked slowly before he was overcome with the urge to hit his head against something, hard.

'Takami-niichan told me about how the tournament works before! There's so many schools in Tokyo that they get another place at the Kantou tournament! Why do I forget the important stuff!?'

Well, at least they weren't done yet.

"So you see..." Hiruma began lowly after he'd finished showing everyone the instructional home page he'd created, whipping out a gatling shotgun. "When that quadruple dammed monkey picked a fight with the referee, he almost got suspended and then they're be no way we could win. Die a million deaths! I'll blast holes into your bones till you die!"

Monta dodged the rain of bullets like a true pro before turning. "Oh, I see! Tetsuma-san... Because he stopped me with that knee tackle, I was saved!"

"Exactly, now hurry and get into the lineup, you've wasted enough damn time already!"

They quickly finished up and Sena was about to leave the field when Riku's voice stopped him.

"You've finally caught up with me, Sena." He said and Sena jumped a bit before turning around to face him. "This is just the beginning, from now on I'll have to raise my level of play. After all, the opponent I'll be facing in the finals will probably be..." Riku looked off to the sidelines, where the White Knights were beginning to gather.

"In the finals... We have to claw our way up, but we're definitely going to the Kantou tournament, for sure."

Riku cocked his head to the side, observing him for a moment before turning away. "Sena. How long are you going to wear that eyeshield mask?"

"Mask?"

"Do you still depend on that Notre Dame crap? In our last showdown, Sena, you sacrificed yourself for the ball. It means you're no longer a scared little gopher. You're the real deal now. You're a real football player." And with that RIku began to walk away, leaving Sena to look down at himself.

'Riku acknowledges me as a real football player.' He smiled slightly, a warm feeling building up inside him and putting him at ease.

"_The team coming to face-to-face with Oujou is a team that keeps miraculously winning! They're the best kicking team. The Bando Spiders!"_

Sena whipped his head around and saw Kotarou combing his hair cooly near the bench.

"Here we are for the Oujou match, pretty smart, huh?"

"Kotarou-san!" He smiled widely, beginning to raise up his hand to wave before stopping.

'Oh yeah, he won't know it's me.'

Juri was standing beside him, her eyes shifting around curiously for a moment before she leaned over to whisper in Kotarou's ear. Kotarou straightened up and looked around quizzically before shaking his head.

Sena had a sinking feeling that they were looking for him, which made him feel somewhat guilty. He'd have to give Juri a call sometime soon and assure her he was fine and not being worked to death.

At least Akaba was acting normal, sitting on the bench and strumming his guitar, not in uniform since he still wasn't allowed to play yet. But he would be soon.

'In fact, I think his time will be up by the time the next game rolls around.' Sena paused, going tense.

'If Bando loses...' Which was the most likely outcome of this game. 'I'm going to have to play against Akaba-san and Kotarou-san.'

And something told him that Akaba would get suspicious of another Eyeshield 21 being on the opposing team, when one of the managers was no where to be found.

'Oh, this will be difficult, what if he figures it out? What if he tells Julie-neechan? Wait, if he might not tell her, because he wouldn't want her get all protective of someone on the opposing team right?' Sena worried over this puzzle for several minutes before movement caught his eye and he turned to see Akaba nonchalantly pushing Kurita back, holding his guitar close to himself protectively.

Sena had known Akaba was good,_ but not that good_.

Akaba put his guitar away, not wanting the precious instrument to get into any more danger, and began walking towards Kotarou, taking out his sunglasses as he passed by Sena.

"Interesting." He commented lowly enough for only Sena to hear. "So you're also Eyeshield 21, Sena-kun."

Sena slowly turned around and watched Akaba move further away, his heart beating like a hammer in his chest.

... Seriously... What the hell?! How long had Akaba known about him? Was this a recent development, or had he been suspicious about it all along?

'Well, I think this settles it, I'm going to have to reveal my identity to everyone soon, really soon.'

Because if he went up against Akaba and the older boy thought he was 'unworthy' of his title, then maybe he'd force him give it up by telling _everyone_ that it was Sena under the eyeshield.

He made his way to the change room feeling something between paranoid and glum and slowly changed out of his uniform.

His gloomy mood didn't go unnoticed though, especially considering how everyone else was ecstatic that they still had one more chance, and it wasn't long before he felt someone tap at his shoulder inquisitively.

He turned to see Juumonji raising an eyebrow at him and managed to quirk his lips at the concern on the other boy's face.

"Something bugging you? That guy with the guitar, he said something to you as he passed by."

"Oh, it's nothing I can't handle." Sena replied and the blonde gave him an unconvinced look.

"You sure about that?"

"Aw, you're so sweet for worrying about me Juumonji-kun," Sena began, finding it hard not to notice how the taller boy's cheeks started going pink. "but I can handle this."

"Right. Well..." Juumonji coughed into his fist. "Just don't hesitate in asking if you ever need help." He turned away and Sena watched him go, unable to keep his smile from growing a fraction more.

For an ex-juvenile delinquent, Juumonji could be borderline adorable sometimes. It sort of made Sena want to give him a hug, although he quickly squashed the urge.

He wasn't sure how he'd explain himself for doing that without embarrassing himself to the point of mortification.

He quickly finished putting on his normal clothes, figuring that he should show up and help Mamori start putting stuff away lest she get suspicious of his whereabouts.

He'd just taken several steps down the hallway when he heard a pair of voices that made him cringe.

"I didn't see Sena-chan anywhere near the bench or in the stands during the game."

"Yes, it seems she's quite good at keeping herself hidden, I'd say."

Sena paled and looked down at his obviously flat chest, if Marco and Maruko caught sight of him, they'd figure out he wasn't a guy within seconds.

He dashed towards the nearest hiding place which was the, thankfully empty, men's washroom and quickly shut the door behind him, leaning against it to keep track of the conversation until the coast was clear.

"Do you suppose we should just go back to our seats? She may not be at the bench right now anyways, and even if she is, I wouldn't want to bother Sena-chan while she's packing everything up."

'Maruko-neechan, you're so thoughtful.' Sena inwardly cried, thinking that the crisis would be averted and the two would go back to their seats.

Instead, the worst possible situation happened.

"Oh-ho? Kakei, they know Sena-chan too!"

'Oh fuck, _oh fuck_!' Sena opened the door a crack to see that Mizumachi and Kakei were almost walking alongside the pair, who had stopped at the mention of his name.

He was doomed, absolutely doomed unless he did something.

He opened the door a little more, eternally grateful to the powers that be that Marco and Maruko's backs were to him, and Mizumachi was too busy being excited to notice him, and began waving his hand in a beckoning gesture, hoping Kakei would notice.

"How many times must I tell you Mizumachi, you need to-" Kakei caught sight of him and thankfully didn't pause. "stop being so familiar. Anyways, I'll be back in a minute, don't wander off." With that Kakei broke away from the group and opened up the door, closing it behind him softly.

Sena could have kissed him, he was so happy, but he decided the situation at hand was much more important.

"Kakei-kun, I have a huge favour to ask you." He began unsteadily and the taller boy looked down at him worriedly.

"Are you sick? Did you want me to grab one of your team mates to take you home?"

"No, it's nothing like that, it's just..." Sena grit his teeth, knowing he'd have a lot of explaining to do after this. "When you're with those two people, don't correct Mizumachi-kun whenever he talks about me like I'm a girl."

Kakei rose an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

"Please? I'll explain everything to you later, but for now just think of me as a girl, talk about me like I'm a girl, pretend Mizumachi-kun has a crush on me or something, just don't let them know I'm a boy, please?"

Kakei frowned and cast a quick glance at Sena's chest, as if to assure himself that Sena wasn't a _girl _pretending to be a _boy_.

"Alright, but meet up with me later to explain this..." Kakei made a vague gesture with his hand. "Situation."

Sena caught his hand and held it close. "I will, I promise, thank you so much Kakei-kun." And, slightly acting on his earlier, apparently uncontrollable, impulse, he pressed his lips against the other boy's knuckles briefly.

Then he realized that _maybe Kakei wouldn't enjoy his personal space intrusion_ and he quickly dropped the hand.

"Oh gosh, I'm really sorry! Please don't hate me, I won't do it again! I'm just really nervous and jittery an-" He paused when Kakei awkwardly patted his head.

"I-It's okay, don't worry about it. I'll see you around, Sena."

And with that Sena was once again left alone in the washroom.

'Kakei-kun... Was blushing...' Sena quickly shook the thought out of his head, he had way more pressing things to focus on.

It wasn't like Maruko and Marco had come specifically to visit him, they could be checking up on the teams that they'd likely be facing off against in the Kantou tournament. But they had left their seats to look for him, meaning they did want to talk to him, or rather, talk to _her_. Which ultimately meant that Sena was going to feel horribly guilty if he didn't at least say 'hi' from a distance where they wouldn't be able to tell his figure from a girl's.

'And then, after all of this, I'm going to have to tell Kakei-kun the truth about why Mizumachi-kun can't seem to stop thinking I'm a girl.'

Could his day get any worse?

Somehow, he felt that the answer was a resounding _yes_.


	103. Chapter 103

FASH: Poor Sena, I force him to go through such awkward situations... Oh well.

""-speech

''-thoughts

Sena crossed his arms over his chest and bit his lip as he wondered what exactly he was supposed to do in this situation that would keep him guilt free and keep his identity somewhat under wraps.

'Although, all things considered, maybe I should just let them know my identity now instead of them figuring it out later.'

But how exactly was he supposed to do that? Just go up to them and say: "Hey, I know you were under the impression I was a girl and all, but actually that was just part of the ingenious disguise put together by my team captain so that I could spy on you easier without having to worry about getting beaten up."

He didn't think that would go over very well, either they'd think he was a pervert for going along with it, or they'd follow Agon's train of thought and think Hiruma was a pervert for thinking of it, neither of which was a desired outcome.

He sighed and pushed away from the door, vainly wishing that he'd never fallen from that tree all those months ago as he turned the handled and peered out to see if the previous four had vacated the hallway.

He slipped out the door, feeling a little relieved that the eventual confrontation he'd have to go through had been pushed back, even if only by a little bit.

He slowly made his way back to the change room, figuring his friends would still be loitering around inside and giving Musashi a minor interrogation of sorts, and by now Mamori probably figured he'd left his post in the 'stands' to meet up with the team.

He paused several feet away from his destination when he saw a lanky Deimon student lurking around, a pen tucked behind his ear and a yellow notebook pressed to his chest by one hand while he attempted to fiddle with the settings of his camera with his other hand.

Wonderful, now the Sawaka guy from the school's newspaper was hanging around.

The other boy looked up from his camera for a moment, probably to assure himself that Hiruma hadn't silent appeared before him, ready to send a rain of bullets in his direction. Once he was assured that the demonic blonde wasn't looming anywhere in his general vicinity he looked back down at his camera, only to snap his head back up again a second later.

"You!" He exclaimed, looking like he'd point in Sena's direction if it weren't for the fact that neither of his hands were free.

Oh, so he could see him after all, for a moment Sena had thought he had somehow become invisible.

"Me?" Sena pointed to himself, just to clarify and the other Deimon student nodded.

"Yes, you're the secretary right? Do you know if Eyeshield has left the change room yet?"

"Probably, he tends to change quickly so he can avoid people." Sena responded dryly, prompting the other boy to curse under his breath.

"Eyeshield-san isn't that interesting anyways, you should go out and watch the game it's gonna be a good one." Sena suggested with what he hoped was a convincing smile.

The other boy gave him a disbelieving look. "But what if he hasn't left yet?"

"Well, do you really think you'd be able to get a clear shot of him if he came out? He's got amazing reflexes you know, he'd be way down the hall before you even had enough time to memorize his face." Sena remarked offhandedly. "Besides, even if that weren't the case, Hiruma-san would-"

"Sena?" The door to the change room and Juumonji stepped out, shooting the brunette a questioning look. "Why are you still hanging around..." The blonde caught sight of Sawaka and he immediately frowned, stepping forward to be just ahead of Sena, making himself out to be a human shield of sorts.

"Has this guy been holding you up?" He asked, craning his head to the side and sizing the smaller boy up with a scowl.

"No, but Sawaka-san does seem to be-" Sena stopped as the boy in question turned and briskly started walking away, not quite ready to face off against some one of Juumonji's calibre by himself.

Juumonji turned back to Sena, toying with the undone zipper of his hoodie. "Guess he wanted to get away before the others started coming out. Even though most of 'em feel like playing twenty questions in there anyways."

"I don't know, you can be pretty intimidating by yourself Juumonji-kun." Sena replied, eyes drawn to the movement of Juumonji's hands.

"But not as much as certain _other_ people."

"Yes, well, considering you have nearly twice as much muscle mass as him, I think you're intimidating enough." Sena said, eyes still locked on the hoodie as an idea slowly began forming in his mind.

If he was wearing a large sweater, then the frumpiness of it would cover him up completely and make his chest a lost less noticeable, and even though he wouldn't have anything else to help mask his appearance, like the hats Hiruma used to give him, he might at least seem androgynous. And androgynous was fine as long as it kept Marco and Maruko from finding him out completely.

"Hey, Juumonji-kun, um..." Sena rubbed at his arms a bit. "Would you mind lending me your sweater?"

Juumonji stopped fiddling with the zipper and he started shrugging the garment off with a nod. "Are you cold or something?"

"Yeah, something like that." Sena said, accepting the garment with a grateful smile, quickly pulling it on and zipping it up.

"... So..." Juumonji began conversationally, only to have the door burst open before he could really start.

"Alright! Time to observe to the max!"

"A-ha-ha! I'm one hundred and fifty percent sure of the outcome of this game."

"Can it! Nobody cares about your predictions."

Sena and Juumonji began trailing behind their team mates, not noticing the knowing looks being sent their way by Kuroki and Toganou.

"Oh! Didn't you have something you wanted to talk to me about yesterday Juumonji-kun, before Sawaka-san's... Lurking distracted me."

"N-not in particular."

"Oh." Sena gave the blonde boy a minorly disbelieving look, but decided not to press the subject when he saw the uncomfortable look the other boy was wearing.

'I guess I'll have to ask him again when we're alone.'

The group headed out to watch the game, although more often then not Sena found his eyes trailing away to focus on Akaba who was sitting on the bench. He supposed it didn't matter all too much, since he'd probably end up having to reveal his identity by the next game, but he wanted to know what exactly it was that gave his identity away in the first place.

Of course, knowing Akaba, the answer would probably be his _rhythm_.

The game progressed with Bando doing a lot better than anyone had expected, all things considered. Even though Akaba was benched due to the league's transfer rules it was clear that he'd been teaching the other players how to pull off his usual moves. And while they weren't at Akaba's level, they were at least putting up a fight against Oujou's near-impregnable defence.

The game ended, ten to three with Oujou securing their place in the finals and Bando becoming the opposing team for the consolation match.

'The next game is gonna be tough.' Sena rolled up the sleeves of the hoodie in an attempt to get a little cooler as they began exiting the stadium and he kept his eyes and ears open for any sign of the pair from Hakushu.

'It'll be pretty ironic if I end up not seeing them, what with all the fussing I was doing.' He slowed his walk, just a little, and rubbed at his chin in thought. 'But considering my luck today, it seems more inevitable than-'

"Ah! Sena-chan!"

'I knew it.'

Sena took a deep breath and turned around, smiling brightly at the pair he'd been expecting.

"Maruko-neechan, Marco-kun, I haven't see you two in ages!"

"Yes, not since before the summer break when you fainted after the game with the Americans." Maruko reached forward and softly ruffled his hair.

"Ah yes, that was... Quite an interesting experience. Are you guys scouting out the teams you might be going up against in the Kantou tournament?"

Maruko nodded, and Marco smoothly wrapped an arm around her shoulders, grinning.

"And now we're going on a _date._" He announced, causing his upperclassman to blush lightly.

"Oh... _Oh!_ Am I interrupting your plans? Sorry!"

"No, no, it's all right. We were hoping to see you for a little while anyways, it was nice talking to you again Sena-chan."

"Same here." He quickly tossed a look over his shoulder.

His team mates were no where in sight.

"Oh dear, I'd better get going, otherwise my team is going to think I got lost or something, I'll see you two later, Have a nice date!" He dashed away, waving over his shoulder at them.

Thankfully his team hadn't progressed too far without him and it was all too easy to catch up with them again, although Monta threw him a questioning look when he slowed to a walk beside him.

"Dude, where did you wander off to?"

"Nowhere, I was just... Thinking. About Akaba-san."

"... Why?"

"Well, his uniform number is twenty one, and he has an eyeshield, so I was just wondering if maybe he was the guy Kakei-kun kept comparing me to." Sena explained, although he knew full-well that that wasn't the case.

"Why don't we go and ask Kakei then? He's the only one who's met the real Eyeshield."

"R-right now?"

Maybe he should have just told the truth and said: "I was talking to the pair who came to see me after the game against the Americans, you know, the ones who think I'm a girl."

Oh well, too late now.

"Well yeah. He might know how to defend against him. We've gotta do everything we can. We can't lose the next game." Monta clenched his fists in determination, although he was lacking the usual amount of flair he'd add on to such a statement.

Second chance or not, he still felt guilty about his last catch.

"Alright, I suppose now is as good a time as any."

Monta immediately brightened. "All right then, dash max! Get the camera, we're going to Kyoshin High!"

"But Akaba-san didn't even play today, why do we need the camera?"

"Yeah, but he taught the other guys his technique right? So when we go to Kyoshin and show Kakei their plays, he'll know whether or not that guy is the Eyeshield he knows."

"What?! I wanna go too!" Suzuna exclaimed, following after them excitedly before easily taking the lead due to her skates.

"Wait guys! You've been out in the sun too long, you're going to get dehydrated!" Mamori called after them as she followed at a more leisurely pace.

Sena had been following Suzuna closely, paying more attention to his inward musings than the girl in front of him, which he immediately regretted when Suzuna abruptly put on the brakes. He smashed against her backpack hard enough to feel the handle of a pom pom digging into him and Monta crashed into him soon after, although he had thankfully been watch where he was going and was able to slow down a little before the crash.

Once Suzuna was able to fully recover her balance she pointed to the street across from them. "Aren't those guys the Kyoshin Poseidons?"

"Uh... Yes, yes they are."

"Sena!"

The trio turned to see Mamori approaching them, a tray of bottled water held out in front of her.

"Mamori-neechan, we were just going to go and see the Kyoshin players." Sena explained as they began crossing the street and Mamori looked at their destination with a curious eye.

"Is this a public bath house?"

"Yeah. If you're tired, it'll help replenish your energy." Suzuna said, skimming over a sign posted on the front of the building.

"I wonder if the Poseidons came here after practice..." Monta mused aloud and Sena squinted at the door the team had gone through, wondering if that really was the case with everyone excluding Mizumachi and Kakei.

"Let's do it then! We've gotta get our energy back for the next game!" Monta decided. "It's stupid to wait for them out here. Let's go in and talk to Kakei!" He dashed inside, already beginning to strip.

"Hey wait! We'll probably be bothering them!" Sena protested half-heartedly, already following his friend inside.

"I'm going too! Come on Mamo-nee!"

"What? No way! What's with you guys?" Mamori protested as she was pushed into the girl's side by an enthusiastic Suzuna.

Well, at least there was never a dull moment.

After striping down and gathering up some bathing supplies they ventured further into the bath house, unable to keep themselves from staring when they discovered Mizumachi, causing quite a commotion by swimming around in the bath and accidentally kicking Ohira in the face.

'Wow, I hope no freak accidents occur while we're here.' Sena thought as he cautiously made his way forward on the wet tiled floor.

It wasn't too long before they ran into Kakei, but through a series of unfortunate events the camera ended up submerged underwater.

Hiruma and Mamori were not going to be happy about that.

Afterwords the two Deimon students washed themselves up, Monta scrubbing with a little more force than necessary.

"Damn. If we could've shown Kakei the video we'd have know if Akaba if the real Eyeshield 21! _Now_ why are we here?"

"Well... You did say something about getting our energy back before the next game."

"Oh... My... God!" Suzuna's voice drifted over the wall that separated the male and female sides. "Mamori your... How huge!"

Sena immediately tuned out the conversation coming from the girl's side and turned to join Kakei in the baths, Monta following not long after, although he looked a little woozy from blood loss.

"So, Kakei, know anything about Akaba from Bando?" Monta asked as he stepped into the water, immediately taking a place beside Sena.

"Akaba Hayato? Yeah, I know him. He was the Tokyo MVP last year."

"Awesome! So we didn't even need the video! So, do you think he could be the real Eyeshield?" Monta asked excitedly.

"The real Eyeshield?" Kakei repeated, gazing upwards thoughtfully. "Hmm... His build seems different..."

"I see, so there's a possibility it's not him." Sena replied, trying to look as though he were considering the possibility of Akaba not being the original, and glancing around with an inquisitive gaze. Then his eyes landed on something that really did make him curious.

"Um, Mizumachi-kun, what are you doing?" He asked and the blonde turned from where he'd created a pyramid out of the supplied stools near the dividing wall.

"What am I doing?" He repeated curiously before stepping onto the first level. "When you're at a public bath, it's either swim or peep, right?"

"No! It's neither!" His team mates loudly denied while Monta glared darkly.

"Mamori's in trouble! Catch max!" He sprung forward and gripped Mizumachi around the waist before he could get any higher and the two began slipping around dangerously.

"Shouldn't we do something?!" Sena asked, worried that someone was going to fall and crack their skull.

"Sure, judging from Akaba's talent it could be him, but Akaba's style is fundamentally different." Kakei continued, not seeming to notice the commotion going on behind him.

Everyone else vacated the bath to try and put a stop to the squabbling, although their dripping bodies just added more slickness to safety hazard of a floor.

"Hayato Akaba is the most powerful lead blocker out there, despite his slender frame."

"Yes, I know a bit about that..." Sena threw another worried look over at Monta and Mizumachi, who were beginning to tone it down at the insistence of everyone else, but it didn't seem like they'd completely stop any time soon.

"Whether or not Akaba's the real Eyeshield I can't say. But when it comes to talent, he's no fake. Either way it doesn't matter. If Deimon's gonna advance to the Kantou Tournament, you've gotta play better than the real thing."

Sena nodded in agreement. "My guys are definitely up for the challenge and... And I think our Eyeshield is really looking forward to the chance to prove his worth to Akaba-san, original or not."

"That's good."

They lapsed into silence, which Sena found to be uncomfortable, and it wasn't long before he started up again.

"So..." Sena skimmed his hand across the surface of the warm water, eyes locked on the ripples he made so he would have to look up at the boy across from him. "I suppose, since I'm here and all, I have to explain _that_ situation to you now."

"As long as you're comfortable with it." Kakei responded, shrugging his shoulders casually.

Comfortable didn't really describe what Sena felt at the moment, probably because talking to someone about his cross dressing escapades while half naked wasn't high on his priority list.

But it was probably better that he do it now and not put it off, otherwise Kakei might try and figure it out on his own.

"Okay, here goes." Sena took a deep breath. "A little while after I first joined the team as the manager Hiruma-san decided that I should make myself useful by spying on other teams. But since I'm, you know, a little on the scrawny side, if I got caught I'd be dead meat."

Kakei nodded in understanding before making a vague 'go on' gesture with his hand.

"So Hiruma-san decided, for my own safety of course, that I would be much safer if I pretended I was a manager of the female variety."

Kakei blinked very slowly and swallowed, keeping his eyes shut tightly for a moment as if to banish any strange images Sena's confession would have brought up.

"I... I see." He answered after a moment, opening up his eyes to stare down at the water.

Well, he didn't seem angry or on the verge of accusing anyone of being pervert, so Sena decided to continue on with his confession.

"And so, the reason why Mizumachi-kun continuously think of me of as a girl is because he once saw me during one of my, uh, 'missions'."

'Where I was sent to spy on Kyoshin.' Sena added in his head, not wanting to admit to _that _out loud unless absolutely necessary.

Kakei clenched his eyes shut again and Sena couldn't help but wonder if he'd offended the other boy somehow. He'd never really met anyone before who had actually been mad at him for going along with Hiruma's plans, they'd been more concerned than anything else, or in Juri's case, ecstatic, but what if Kakei though he was a little creep now?

Kakei took a deep breath and Sena tensed, mentally preparing himself for whatever Kakei's opinion might be.

"I suppose that makes sense."

Sena let out a sigh of relief.

"But you have another manager right? And an actual female one at that, so why did he send you?"

"No idea. One theory that had been brought up by a friend was that Hiruma-san was a pervert, but I really think they were way off with that. Hiruma-san just has a twisted sense of humour or something." Sena's lips quirked up in a weak smile. "Anyways, that's how it is. Thanks for the info on Akaba-san, it was nice talking to you." He slipped out of the bath and made his way towards Monta, rounding him up without much fuss and heading for their lockers.

'I am never going to lie about my identity or _anything else _ever again.' He told himself firmly as he began shrugging on his clothes. 'It's too hectic to keep up with them all, and coming clean about them is awkward. I can't wait till next week when I'll finally be able to stop worrying about all of this, at least for the most part.'

And then he realized something.

He still had Juumonji's sweater.


	104. Chapter 104

FASH: This chapter is the first solid step towards an actual pairing (Dear sweet Jesus, it took me long enough, eh?) although I'm still not sure who Sena'll end up with in the end. (So many mixed feelings, so many candidates.)

""-speech

''-thoughts

'I didn't know I was so forgetful.' Sena mused as he folded the sweater up and put it in his duffle bag. 'I mean really, I rolled up the sleeves because I was getting too warm with it on, I should have noticed I was still feeling oddly warm before I ran off.'

Oh well, it wasn't like he'd taken the sweater without asking for it first, and he highly doubted Juumonji really needed it, he could just return it to him tomorrow.

"Do you think Mamori-san and Suzuna are almost done?" Monta asked once he finished pulling on his clothes and Sena shrugged.

"Mamori-neechan probably wouldn't want to linger too long, but I'm not sure about Suzuna. And Mamori-neechan wouldn't want to leave Suzuna by herself if she does end up staying longer."

"Mamori-san is so considerate!" Monta agreed wistfully. "Do you think we should wait for them?"

"I should probably head home, if I stay out too late mom might think I've been dragged away to America again or something." Sena laughed lightly and Monta nodded his head.

"I guess I'd better get going too." He said as they stepped out of the bath house, sending one last look over his shoulder, probably hoping that Mamori would come out right on time so that they could walk home together. But it was all for naught and he and Sena ended up walking together in comfortable silence until they had to split up.

He was almost home when his cell phone began to ring. He paused and began digging around his duffle bag in search of the well-hidden object, then, when he finally found it, it stopped ringing.

'I suppose that's just my luck today, huh?' He thought with a small roll of his eyes.

Then it started ringing again.

Curious as to who was so eager to get ahold of him he quickly flipped his phone open and checked his caller ID.

'Julie-neechan? Well, I suppose that means I can cross calling her off of my to do list.' Sena grinned as he accepted the call and pressed the phone to his ear.

"Hello." He greeted in a sing-song voice, starting up his walk again.

"Hey Sena, I didn't see you on the sidelines today. Come to think of it, I don't think I ever see you on the sidelines. Where do you go during the all of the games?"

"I go to tape the games from the stands so that I have more of a bird's-eye-view of the formations." Hadn't he had this conversation with someone before? Oh well, at least having to retell it helped him keep his story straight. "Sometimes it's better to get certain plays at an above angle, and Mamori-neechan is at ground level for anything that's better filmed straight on." Sena nodded to himself sagely, even though he was well aware Juri couldn't see the action.

"I suppose that makes sense, but why haven't you been calling me? Your social life is going to suffer."

"N-no it's not." Sena protested lamely.

"Yes it is, I mean, your team has two managers, so surely you're not _that _busy right? Do you sleep a lot in your free time or something?"

"Uh... No."

"Anyways, Kotarou's really gung-ho about your kicker coming back, so don't be too surprised if he sneaks over while your practising to challenge him or something equally frivolous."

"Oh, okay, thanks for the heads up."

"No prob. Also, sometime after the Bando game you'd better get your cute self over here for a visit. I haven't seen you in forever."

"Okay..."

"Alright, it's a promise! And if you don't come willingly, I'll drag you over myself!" Juri said, sounding far too happy at the prospect of dragging Sena around. "See you later."

"Bye." Sena flipped his phone shut and started up his walk again, reaching his house in just a few minutes.

Sena wasn't sure if Juumonji had some sort of clothes-borrowing-policy, but decided it would be best if he treated it like a borrowed handkerchief and washed it before returning it. So he threw it into the washing machine with his own laundry and dully finished off his homework while waiting for the cycle to end.

Pit, bless her little feline heart, had used his pyjamas as a make-shift bed during the day, and after changing into them and putting the clothes into the drying he brushed the cat hair away to pass the time.

There was nothing quite like 'grooming' for lack of anything better to do to prove that your home life was actually kind of boring.

'Maybe I should get out more often.' He mused to himself as Pit rubbed up against his leg, shedding more fur onto him. 'Julie-neechan might have had a point when she was talking about my social life. Lately all I've been caring about is football. Even school work doesn't seem to compare.'

Sena dropped a hand down to scratch Pit behind the ears.

Being so one track minded probably wasn't very healthy for his mentality either, but Shin was completely goal oriented, and he seemed fine.

'Aside from the times when he does some of his advanced-level-excersizes in public places.'

That was strange, period.

When the clothes were finished drying he began pulling them out and folding them up, a thoughtful look creasing his brow.

Maybe during the gap of time before the Kantou Tournament started he could afford himself some time to re-kindle his social life, and focus on his studies.

'But for now, it's best if I focus on the upcoming game.' Sena set Juumonji's hoodie aside with a nod.

Bando was going to be a tough mountain to conquer.

There was no practice the following morning, so Sena returned the article of clothing to Juumonji before class, thanking him once again for lending it out.

"No problem." The blonde replied gruffly, casting his eyes around the room as he put the hoodie in his school bag. He had that look on his face again, like he wanted to talk to Sena but refused to do so in a public place.

Considering how they hardly ever spent time alone together, Sena wondered if he'd ever find out what was going through the other boy's mind.

Afternoon practice began with a light jog around several city blocks, and thanks to Juri's prior warning, he wasn't _too _surprised when Kotarou appeared in front of them, combing his hair with one hand and pointing at them with the other.

"Musashi! This is it!" He boldly declared. "Who's the smartest kicker? In our game next week, we're gonna settle this once and for-"

"Yeah." Musashi absentmindedly responded as he jogged right past him.

"Oh... Okay then." Kotarou blinked, still pointing ahead of him even as the rest of Deimon past him by. After managing to collect his wits he raced after them to the bridge and, upon seeing an abandoned can on the railing, leapt up beside it.

"Musashi!" He called out again, and this time Musashi actually bothered to pause and look at him, as did everyone else. "I challenge you! The number one kicker is Kotarou Sasaki!" And with that he kicked the can, from the railing at the top of the bridge, into a recycling bin made especially for cans and bottles.

"What?! That's incredible!" Monta shouted.

"And it was... Still full..." Kotarou mumbled, now dripping wet with whatever mysterious clear liquid had been in the can.

"That's even more incredible!"

Kotarou had meandered off after that, probably wanting to clean himself up before the sugary beverage dried on him, and the Devil Bats headed back to Deimon to finish off their practice.

They finished earlier than usual, although Hiruma promised they'd be making up for lost time ten-fold over the rest of the week

Sena changed quickly and had waved his good-byes to everyone who hadn't left the clubhouse yet as stepped out, eager to get home, only to be met with a living wall of sorts.

"Yo." Toganou greeted calmly with Kuroki grinning brightly beside him, the two seemed to be purposely blocking his path for some reason.

"Hey, since we got off earlier than usual, we're heading over to Juumonji's to watch a movie, wanna come?"

They were inviting him, seriously?

"Well, um, uh... Sure?" Sena answered slowly, slightly confused at Kuroki and Toganou's unusual behaviour.

"Wicked, come on then." Kuroki nudged him lightly.

"Ah, wait! I should call my mom and ask her permission first!"

"What? Seriously?" The taller brunette seemed shocked that Sena would actually alert his parents to a change of plans.

"Yeah, my mom is kind of if-y about me staying out late sometimes." Sena explained as he flipped open his phone and went through his contact list to find 'home'. "I think she still hasn't completely forgiven me for not really contacting her while we were in America."

Toganou made a muffled sound of agreement from behind his latest issue of Shonen Jump.

Sena held the phone up to his ear and glanced around, wondering where exactly Juumonji was. Surely Kuroki and Toganou weren't inviting him along to his house without his permission, right?

'No, I'm sure they must have asked Juumonji-kun if I could come in advance.' Sena told himself as his mother picked up the phone.

"Hey mom, is it okay if go to a friend's house to watch a movie? I'm not sure when I'll be back."

He was answered with silence.

"Mom?"

"You're going to a friend's house? And you're not over-looking training, or going through stats, or anything like that?"

Sena's eyebrows drew together. "No..."

"Of course you can go sweetie! I'm so proud of you!" His mother announced, sounding like she was on the verge of tears.

'Proud of me for what?' He mentally asked in bewilderment. "Alright then, I'll see you when I get home, I'll try not to be too late."

"Have fun Sena!" His mother cooed back at him before hanging up and before he knew it he was flanked on both sides by the taller linemen, both of whom shared a secretive smile over his head.

'I feel like I'm missing something.'

Juumonji had been waiting for them by the school gate, and although he looked minorly surprised at Sena's presence, he thankfully didn't object to it.

The journey to the blonde's house was filled with idle conversation about what movie they should watch, and by the time they reached his house it seemed likely that they'd end up watching some sort of Bruce Lee action flick.

The four made their way to the living room where Juumonji and Sena dutifully searched for the aforementioned movie and, upon discovering it and setting everything up, found out that they were still alone together.

The other pair had left several minutes ago to 'make popcorn', with Kuroki sending a blatant wink over his shoulder, and it didn't seem like they'd be coming back any time soon.

Sena assumed that they had wanted to give Juumonji and himself some alone time so that the blonde could finally come out and say whatever it was that he'd been wanting to talk to Sena about. It was a great idea, and it would have been very helpful if Juumonji actually took the opportunity to talk to him. Instead he just sat still on the couch beside him, staring at the floor intently.

'If he doesn't start talking soon, we're going to spend the entire night sitting in awkward silence. I highly doubt Kuroki-kun and Toganou-kun are going to come back before he speaks his mind, they're probably listening in from somewhere to make sure they don't interrupt anything.' Sena sighed. 'Not that there's anything to interrupt.'

Juumonji twitched at the listless exhale of breath and slowly turned to look at him, although his eyes flickered away after a moment.

Was it just him, or was the atmosphere becoming even more uneasy?

"So, what is it you wanted to talk about?" Sena asked, a strange feeling forming in the pit of his stomach when he saw Juumonji's cheeks go pink, almost as if he were nervous.

"Hey, we're friends right?" Juumonji asked suddenly and Sena automatically nodded.

"Of course we are, silly, did you think we weren't?" He asked back with a chuckle, attempting to dispel the strange tension surrounding them.

It didn't work.

Juumonji shifted over a couple inches in order to be right beside to the smaller brunette. "No, it's just..." He bit his lip, as if he were thinking over something, before he began to lean closer. "Do you find this awkward?" He finished lamely.

Sena stared at the face several inches away from his own and felt his cheeks heat up. "Well, um, I'm not entirely sure we've ever been this close before Juumonji-kun. That is to say-" He abruptly stopped when Juumonji closed the gap between them.

Juumonji's lips were dry, but the kiss was so soft he could hardly tell, and it ended in the blink of an eye, before Sena could properly analyse it.

When Juumonji pulled back a couple inches, his face redder than ever, Sena vaguely wondered if that had been _his_ fist kiss as well.

"D-did that feel awkward to you?" The blonde nervously questioned and Sena, who was still trying to wrap his head around this situation, answered back:

"Did it feel awkward to _you_?"

Juumonji's answer to that question was apparently to kiss him again, a little harder and longer than last time, nervously stroking a hand against Sena's cheek before he pulled away, looking rather breathless.

"Oh God, that felt kind of weird." He ran a hand through his hair, shoulders slumping. "I'm sorry." He slumped even further, covering his face with both hands. "_Oh fuck_, I'm so sorry, I should have asked you first or something-"

"Hey, it's okay Juumonji-kun, don't worry about it." Sena patted his back in what he hoped was a soothing manner, at the moment way more concerned about Juumonji and what seemed to be an impending breakdown than about his first two kisses.

"It's just, I like you Sena, I _really do_ like you, but it's kind of weird cause it's different than what I feel for the other guys, you know?" Juumonji asked, still hiding behind his hands. "And you're just so _amazing_ sometimes that I feel kind of breathless and I don't know what to do with myself because I've never really looked up to anyone before, let alone someone my age. I sort of, you know, admire you."

Sena felt himself blush at the compliment.

"You're fun to hang around, and you're always giving people second and third chances, and you're will-power, you get this determined look in your eyes when you're really set on something , and I... I..."

"And so you thought you had a crush on me." Sena finished and Juumonji nodded, still not moving his hands away from his face.

"Juumonji-kun, look at me, please?" Sena asked, gently taking hold of the older boy's hands and setting them on his lap without much resistance.

"You don't hate me now, do you?" Juumonji mumbled.

"Juumonji-kun, I could never hate you, how could you even think that I would?" Sena was the one moving forward now, cupping Juumonji's face between his hands so that he could look the other boy in the eye. "You're one of my most important friends, one of my precious team mates, and you're just feeling confused right now because you thought you liked me in a certain way, but it turned out that you didn't. That's alright, I don't think any less of you for it."

"Really?"

"Really." Sena confirmed with a soft smile. "Besides, you tried to tell me about your feelings before, you were going to do so Saturday, right? But instead I got distracted because we were being spied on, and I should have realized it was something very personal since you got nervous when I mentioned Hiruma-san's cameras afterwards. By this point you felt that action would speak louder than words, and that's fine."

Sena felt oddly mature for some reason, despite his never being in a relationship before. Maybe it was because he was the one doing the consoling while someone else was doing the fretting.

"Things aren't going to awkward now, are they?"

"Nope." Juumonji sighed in relief and Sena moved his hands away. "Although it might be awkward for Kuroki-kun and Toganou-kun to come back into the room if they were listening in on this."

Juumonji snorted, a grin spreading across his now relaxed features. "Yeah, but they should know better than to eaves-drop." Another troubled look suddenly overtook him and for a moment Sena worried that he was going to need to reassure Juumonji about everything all over again.

"You don't think Hiruma is going to find out about this do you?"

Sena paled, the thought of anyone finding out about this, other than maybe Kuroki and Toganou, hadn't really occurred to him. And while he was perfectly fine dealing with Juumonji and his mistaken emotions, he was fairly certain that several of his older acquaintances would be out for blood if they knew Sena's first two kisses had been stolen by someone who hadn't even been completely certain about his feelings for him.

"Well, I suppose all we can do on that account is hope that his information network doesn't extend this far, and if he does find out, hope that he'll keep it a secret."

"Oh, he'd keep it a secret, I just don't want him to get any more blackmail material, he's got enough of it already."

"Oh, I don't doubt that." Sena responded before settling down.

Truthfully there were _a lot_ of things Sena wanted to ask Juumonji about, but for the sake of not ruining the now comfortable atmosphere he kept them to himself, despite his curiosity. But there was still one question that he couldn't keep entirely to himself.

"Where exactly are Kuroki-kun and Toganou-kun anyways? If they had been listening in, wouldn't they have come back by now?"

Juumonji pursed his lips together before standing up. "I guess we should probably look for them, or else we'll never finish what we all actually came here to do." He said before strolling out of the living room, Sena following behind him.

They found the pair in a matter of seconds, slumping around the kitchen table fast asleep, a bowl of cooled popcorn between them.

"I guess they got tired while waiting for me to confess, huh?" Juumonji asked good-naturedly, although a blush had begun to stain his cheeks again.

"I suppose, should we wake them up?" Sena ask, already moving forward and shaking Kuroki by the shoulders gently.

"Kuroki-kun. _Kuroki-kun_."

"Oi!" Juumonji slammed a fist against the table, and the resulting sound and vibrations were enough to make both of the napping boys snap awake.

"Well, that way works too." Sena commented, hiding a smile behind his hand as Kuroki frowned up at them.

"Come on, stop being such lazy asses. Honestly, falling asleep in the kitchen." Juumonji shook his head, grinning. "If you don't move quick we'll start the movie without you."

"We're coming already, jeez."

They filed back into the room and lounged around, Sena idly looking at the DVD case as Juumonji scrolled through the previews.

'Shin-san... Looks a lot like Bruce Lee.' The thought ran through his mind before he could stop it, and now that he was aware of it he wasn't sure if he'd be able to take this movie as seriously as he should.

He just prayed that the next time he met up with the Oujou player he wouldn't imagine him doing Jeet Kune Do.


	105. Chapter 105

FASH: Anime North was awesome this year, even though I didn't see any Eyeshield cosplay like I did the last two years. But there was lots of good Hetalia and Kuroshitsuji, which made me happy, anyways...

I've been mulling over what pairing I want, and I know some people _are not _going to like this (though I know a lot of you will), but I'm seriously starting to consider Agon. Because as much as a bastard as he is, he and Sena have a pretty dynamic relationship. Besides, can you imagine how awkward their first couple of dates would be? Priceless. I'll set up a poll though, just so I can see what everyone else thinks.

""-speech

''-thoughts

Walking home by himself after watching a movie with the Huh Huh Brothers turned out to be a trying event. Not due to physical exhaustion or anything of the sort, but because he no longer had anything to distract him from his own thoughts. And his own thoughts seemed pretty _damn intent _on lingering on Juumonji's kiss, despite how much he was trying to forget it.

It hadn't really meant anything, so it was better to forget it then to make himself feel all awkward by thinking about it.

'Football, football, just think about football. Formations, pass routes, offence and defence...' Sena bit his lip and silently entered his house, peering around to see if either of his parents were up before slipping into the kitchen so he could eat something with a little more nutritional value than popcorn.

'Musashi-san is back, he's even already attending classes, Hiruma-san must have had something to do with that...' Sena chewed on his leftovers thoughtfully, for a moment pondering if he should feel sorry for the principal and teachers for having to deal with Hiruma's extortion, or if, considering that they had something to hide, they deserved it.

In order to maintain a clean conscious he settled on feeling sympathetic towards them before trudging up to his bedroom where he quickly changed into his pajamas and laid down, staring up at the ceiling blankly.

'Defensive end, defensive tackle, nose guard-' Sena listed off mentally, as if naming the football positions were akin to counting sheep.

'And there's the center, the offensive guard and the offensive tackle...' Sena's thoughts trailed off momentarily. 'Juumonji-kun is an offensive tackle...'

Okay, maybe thinking about football wasn't that great of a plan, all things considered. So, maybe if he just quickly straightened everything out in his mind he would get some closure on the matter and his mind wouldn't insist on making him think about it.

So...

Juumonji _admired_ him, so much that he had actually mistaken his feelings of admiration as a crush.

And had kissed him.

Sena, still staring up at the ceiling in a daze, slowly brought a hand up to his lips. It wasn't like he really cared about his first two kisses being stolen or anything, he had never been concerned about that sort of thing, but kissing Juumonji...

It hadn't been as weird as Sena thought it would be, and the unfamiliar pressure on his lips had been unexpectedly nice. Sena liked Juumonji, he was pretty nice once you got past his gruff exterior and he was pretty attractive, but he'd never thought of any of his team mates in a romantic sense. Hell, he'd never thought of anyone in a romantic sense, not even any of the girls in any of his classes.

And now that there were no movies or conversations to distract him, he couldn't help but think back to the 'kissing incident'.

Was Juumonji's adoration of him on par with his own admiration of Shin? If so, did that mean that someday, if Sena ever bothered to think about anyone romantically, he'd start to think he had a crush on Shin?

'Well, I admitted to myself long ago that to an outsider my respect for Shin-san might seem like a crush.'

But it wasn't, at least, he was fairly certain it wasn't, because it would be pretty weird if it was. And then he'd never be able to look Shin in the eyes again.

With a muffled groan Sena rolled onto his stomach, hoping that the change in position would help him get more relaxed and drift off without luck.

Why couldn't he stop thinking about it?! It was just a kiss, and he wasn't the sentimental type who put too much value in the action. Besides, he had way more important things to focus on, the Bando game was less than a week away!

"Stupid thoughts, leave me alone." He mumbled into his pillow, preparing himself for what was likely to be an uneasy sleep.

The next day during practice he did his best to keep his focus, figuring that if he began to obviously lack concentration Juumonji would notice and start to feel guilty, and he really didn't think he could deal with a guilty Juumonji again. Maybe once in a while, but not two days in a row.

Thankfully it was easy to lose himself in drills and repetitive laps, all he needed to do was keep thinking of Bando and Akaba...

Unless he accidently caught sight of Juumonji, in which case his concentration flew out the window for several moments before he could gather himself up and think about Bando again.

He needed answers so that he could finally settle everything down and focus completely on what was important, football. Otherwise he'd just keep getting distracted during practice, and it would show in the next game that he hadn't been training seriously enough.

Sena had sworn long ago that he'd make the other Eyeshield 21's accept that he was a formidable enough player to carry the same title as them, and he wasn't going to let anything stop him from reaching that goal.

Even if that something was apparently his randomly awakening hormones that he had no idea how to deal with.

Well, he'd just have to ask someone's advice on this subject and hope that they'd be able to help him. And who better to ask than Mamori? Certainly she of all people would have some answers for him.

And it helped that he wouldn't be too embarrassed if he talked about this sort of thing with her, as opposed to someone like Hiruma, or even worse, _Agon_.

It was all too easy to go up to her after practice and ask if he could speak with her alone, and she agreed immediately, a hint of concern showing in her eyes. Hiruma had given him a curious look, cocking an eyebrow at him before he took hold of the older girl's hand and lead her away.

"Sena? Has someone been bullying you?" Mamori asked when they were out of earshot of everyone else. "I feel like you've been hiding something from me."

"No, I just need some... Friendly advice." Sena replied as he turned around to face his older friend, who was smiling widely.

"Really? I'd be happy to help!"

"Wonderful." Now, how should he word this? "... Mamori-neechan, you get confessed to a lot right?"

Mamori blinked slowly, trying to connect the dots. "Yes."

"Some of the people who confess to you are your friends, right? How do you keep yourself from getting awkward around those people?"

"Sena... You've... Been confessed to?" Mamori's fingers were twitching, and Sena really hoped that it was just because of surprise and not because she wanted to strangle somebody.

"Sort of, we've mutually decided to stay friends, but I can't really get the ki- confession out of my head."

Damn, that was a close call. If he had said kiss, then there was no telling how Mamori would react.

Mamori didn't respond for a moment and Sena nervously thought that she had caught on to his mistake. "Wh-who? Is it someone from your class? Someone you see often? Not often? It's not... It isn't someone from the team... Is it?"

"Well, it doesn't really matter who it was, does it?" Sena chuckled behind his hand, hoping that Mamori wouldn't press for any more information.

"Well, it may not matter much, but if it's someone who you're around more often then it will probably be easier to go back to how you acted before, since you're used to them." Mamori pursed her lips in thought. "But if it was someone you've just recently met, or goes to a different school, then you may feel awkward around them for a while."

"Oh, so this is just a normal reaction?" Thank the heavens for that.

"Of course silly, you are getting to be at _that age_ after all." Mamori giggled a little.

"Y-yeah, 'that age', being a teenager sure is difficult."

"Is there anything else you needed to confide in me? Anything at all?" Mamori leaned over a little so that they were eye level and clasped his hands. "You know you can tell me _anything_."

The glint in her eyes seemed to be saying: tell me who confessed to you, tell me!

Hopefully that was just his imagination.

"Y-yes, I know, but that was everything, for now."

"Alright, I was just making sure. I don't see you very often even though we're a part of the same club since Hiruma-kun always has you run errands, so I still get worried from time to time." She let go of his hands and patted his shoulders reassuringly. "So don't hesitate to tell me anything."

"I'll be sure to keep that in mind."

Now then, how exactly was he supposed to end this conversation without Mamori getting too curious about the identity of his confessor?

"By the way, I'm kind of curious so... are you and Yuki-san going out?"

Perhaps it was a little devious of him to bring that topic up right now, but it was something he'd find out sooner or later anyways.

'I don't think I've seen Mamori-neechan look this flustered in my entire life.'

"W-well... Mana-. Yukimitsu and I are really close and, um, yes."

"Oh? For how long?"

Mamori's flush became even darker and she sputtered for a moment before stubbornly remaining silent.

"Alright, I suppose I won't ask anymore questions about _your_ love life. But I think that it might be a good idea to tell the team, since they'll probably find out sooner or later."

'And because Monta will react less severely if he's told upfront as opposed to him stumbling upon this information by accident.'

Later that night, after finishing up his homework and calling Takami for a brief check-up he found himself staring up at the ceiling and brooding, much like he had been the night before.

'Alright, so it's natural for me to keep thinking about this sort of thing, even though a confession and a kiss aren't really the same thing. Anyone could have kissed me and I'd still have the same reaction.'

It was almost as if just telling himself that was making him feel more at ease about it, nifty.

'But I wonder if I should be worried about my own seemingly oblivious nature. I never bothered asking Juumonji-kun how long he'd thought he had a crush on me, but I never really saw the signs of anything like that until last night.'

So, in theory, there could be another person somewhere out there, who also had a crush on him, but he didn't notice because he thought they were just being friendly.

Of course, that was just in theory, still...

Was it strange that he wasn't freaked out at all that his first two kisses were taken by a guy?

'Probably...'

Would he have reacted differently if one of his female classmates, or even Suzuna, had been the one to kiss him?

He briefly entertained the idea of kissing a girl, something he'd never really thought about before. When he was younger, still being bullied, girls tended to stay away from him, and it seemed like he was never anyone's 'type' even after the bullying had stopped. In fact, it seemed like the only way he'd be anyone's type would be after the next game, when he'd finally proven himself to Akaba and revealed his true identity.

He'd never had a crush, and seeing as the four female friends he had were under their own impressions about his sexuality, and in Maruko's case, his sex, it just seemed like something that wouldn't happen.

In fact, if a girl from his class randomly kissed him not knowing his 'alternate identity', he'd probably think they'd just been dared to. None of them had shown any interest in him at all, he was _certain_ of it.

And if any of his female friends, who were really more like sisters to him, ever tried kissing him, he'd duck out of the way faster than the speed of light.

'Fascinating.'

So really, saying that: 'anyone could have kissed me and I'd still have the same reaction' was a lie.

'Well, maybe there's a girl somewhere out there who I would react 'normally' to.' He told himself before rolling onto his side, ignoring the doubt that had begun welling up inside of him at that thought. He had more important thing to focus on, after all.

The following day was a lot more relaxed than the previous one. He was able to look at Juumonji with recalling any unnecessary things, and was even able to return the timid smile the blonde had sent him before their after school practice had begun. Proof that a little time had been all he needed to go completely back to normal.

So really, he should have felt entirely at ease during practice, and he would have too, if it weren't for having the feeling that he was being watched.

And he had a sneaking suspicion that it was the boy from the school newspaper, Sawaka, _again._

'I wonder if it would be terribly rude of me to just go over there and tell him to get lost.'

Or even better, or worse depending on your point of view, send Hiruma over to tell him to get lost.

But of course, if he got too close to the other boy he might take note of his height, skin tone, and any other thing that would help him put the pieces of the puzzle together. And he wasn't irritated enough to send Hiruma after him.

'I guess I'll just have to deal with it. It's not like I'm not used to people looking at me, although this gaze is a little more unnerving.'

He felt exceptionally relieved when practice was finally over with, even though as he made his way to the clubroom with everyone else the staring didn't stop.

But wait a minute, if Sawaka really was on some sort of stakeout to find out Eyeshield twenty one's identity, then he'd take notice of all the people coming out of the clubhouse. So, if after all the known team members and Sena exited the building Sawaka decided to sneak inside, only to find the place completely empty, then he'd probably rightly assume that the person who was Eyeshield 21 was the only person who wasn't a known member of the team.

'There is no way I'm letting anyone find out when I'm so close to actually revealing my identity by myself!'

He may not have had Hiruma's brains, or intimidating fire power or imposing aura, but he could still think up something to throw the other boy off course.

It was simple really, he just had to put Sawaka under the impression that he had entered the clubhouse the same time as a group left, which would have obscured him from the other boy's view. Then he'd make him believe that Eyeshield twenty one was still inside and leave for a moment. If Sawaka made a move to get into the clubhouse, he'd rush back as if he'd forgotten something and catch him red handed.

From then on all it would take would be a couple empty threats of calling Hiruma to deal with him, and the other boy would be out of his hair until the next time he felt like spying.

Sena grinned to himself as he changed very slowly, intent on being the very last one to go home today, even if he had to wait around for Hiruma, Kurita and Musashi to leave first.

He could fight his own battles, or in this case, deceive people into leaving him be.

As soon as he was alone in the clubhouse he took several calming breaths before stepping outside, then turning around and leaning forward, acting as if someone inside was talking to him.

"Alright Eyeshield-san, I'll go get you your energy drink before you start up your riverside training." Sena called loudly into the empty clubhouse, hoping that Sawaka would hear.

He walked away, feeling fairly proud of himself, and quickly hid against a shadowy wall of the school's main building, watching the shadows by the fence intently.

'Ah, movement.' He prepared himself to step forward as soon as Sawaka stepped away from the shadows, but something stopped him.

More movement, closing in on the movement from before.

There were _two _spies? Was Sawaka teaming up with someone?!

"What the fuck are you doing?!" The second shadowy figure yelled at the first, but since they were fairly far away Sena couldn't really tell if he recognized the voice or not.

'They appear to be fighting... Chaos in the ranks?'

He didn't want to be the cause of a fight between members of the school newspaper, assuming that they were fighting because someone thought Sawaka's methods of finding out his identity were too creepy and invasive.

'I'd better go try and break it up.' Sena strode forward, hoping that they'd stop their quarrelling once a third party showed up.

He was only several meters away when the fight met it's end due to Sawaka running away, much like he usually did.

The other shadowy figure snorted.

"Trash."

Sena blinked and took a step closer, eyes adjusting the the dark even though now it was completely obvious who the other person was.

Agon.

An intense feeling of déjá vu suddenly overtook him.

Really, would it _kill_ Agon to just come around and talk to him normally? Did he have to be such a creep about it?

'What sort of person just lurks in the shadows like that? Seriously.'

Was Agon trying to imitate a spy or something?

"That guy was going to try and sneak into your clubhouse because of that racket you made a while ago." The dread head stated matter-o'-factly.

"Yeah, he's been spying on me, or rather, Eyeshield twenty one lately. He wants to find out my identity." Sena sighed and ran a hand through his hair. All this being spied on stuff was going to stress him out.

"So he's been bugging you for a long time?" Agon crackled his knuckles. "Did you want me to convince him not to?"

"Oh no, that's very unnecessary, I'm sure whatever you did just now to make him run away was good enough." Sena waved his hands in front of him with a nervous smile.

Annoying as it was to be spied on, Sawaka didn't deserve any of Agon's retribution.

Agon crossed his arms and frowned, although he really should have expected that sort of answer. "So you're just going to let the creep get away with spying on you?"

'I appear to be letting _you_ get away with it.'

"He wouldn't do anything too bad, Hiruma-san already has him freaked out."

Agon grit his teeth together and Sena belatedly realized that it seemed like he was using Hiruma's _devilish_ protection while refusing Agon's _violent_ protection.

"But I was going to catch him red handed just now, by myself, that's why I was talking so loudly when I left the empty clubhouse, so that I could catch him in the act."

"Uh-huh, and _then_ what would you have done?"

The plan had been to threaten him with Hiruma, but he couldn't very well tell Agon _that_.

"I was going to improvise. And if worse came to worse..." Sena bit his lip, thinking of a lie he could get away with. "Well, he may be taller than me, but he's pretty lean, I've probably got more muscle mass than him, so I could take him down."

For a second Agon almost looked proud of his answer, then he frowned again.

"Last time, it sure took you long enough to beat that other guy."

"What?"

Was this some sort of case of mistaken identity? Was someone who looked like him going around and beating people up?

"Seriously, for a moment I was worried I'd over estimated you and you'd end up getting beat by that other short kid."

Short Kid?

... Riku?

"Oh? So you watched my last game then?" Sena inquired with a smile.

"Of course, I'm always watching you." Agon replied nonchalantly and Sena twitched, resisting the urge to take a cautious step away from the older boy.

"During your games, of course." He added on, as if it were an after-thought.

"Oh... Thank you?" Sena's eyebrows steadily drew upwards, wondering if Agon was just going to lurk around him all day.

"So, you're going to kick some major ass in your next game right?" Agon asked, although he sounded completely uninterested. If he were a girl, he would probably be inspecting his nails.

"Well, I'm sure that my team and I-"

"I asked about _you_, not your team." Agon interrupted, uncrossing his arms and taking a step away from the fence.

Sena sighed, too used to Agon's personality to get cross with him for the interruption.

"I'll try better than my best in order to win, I will not allow myself to accept failure."

Agon snorted. "That sounds lame. Listen up, since someone like _me_ actually recognizes your talent, you should be able to defeat all the trash on the next team without even going at one hundred percent."

Sena narrowed his eyes a little at the comment. "You know, one of the guys on that team, and the one that I'm specifically trying to prove myself to, was the Tokyo MVP last year."

"Che. That changes nothing." Agon waved his hand in a dismissive manner. "All that matters is that you win."

Sena frowned. Was Agon's only purpose in coming here to tell him to win? But why would he bother coming all this way for that? Unless...

"Agon-san, did you place some sort of bet on the next game?"

"What? No."

"... Will you be placing a bet after this conversa-"

"No I won't! Honestly, can't I converse with you without you getting all suspicious?" Agon questioned, frowning and leaning over to further invade Sena's personal space

'Your actions make you seem suspicious.' Sena mentally chided. "You can, I just find it hard to believe that you'd come all the way over to my school just to tell me I need to 'kick ass' in the next game."

"You should feel _honoured _that I actually spend time talking to you in person." Agon replied as he straightened up. "There aren't many guys who can claim they've spoken to me face to face without ending up in pain."

There was a fine line between honoured and unnerved when Agon was involved. But Sena supposed he could settle for honoured, since it was the safer option.

"In any case, how's Unsui-san doing? I haven't seen or heard from him in a while."

Agon was frowning again, eyebrows creasing. If Sena had to guess what was going through the older boy's mind at the moment, he'd have to say it was something along the lines of: _I _am here, why isn't all of your attention focussed on _me_?!

Agon opened his mouth and Sena braced himself.


	106. Chapter 106

FASH: So far according to reviews and the poll Agon is in the lead (53 percent), with Hiruma trailing in second place (22 percent), so it seems inevitable that Agon will win. I know that Agon/Sena may seem like a complete crack pairing due to Agon's _very canon_ womanizing, but since he objectifies them, and he doesn't actually care about them it seems like the only way he would be able to be part of a _normal_ relationship would be if he respected the other, and I'm going to try and build on that. In other news: writers' block hit me repeatedly with a metal bat this chapter, sorry for the delay.

""-speech

''-thoughts

"If you're so concerned about him, why don't you call him up and ask him yourself?"

Well, that hadn't been as self centred as Sena was expecting, maybe he was giving Agon too little credit.

He opened his mouth to answer, but paused when he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.

'Oh no,_ please no_.'

"I was wondering what you were up to when, as opposed to going straight home, you stared at the wall for a solid fifteen minutes before everyone left."

Hiruma's voice was almost chilling, and Sena just knew without even having to turn around that he was glaring at Agon, and Agon was glaring right back.

Oh,_ for the love of football_, why did this sort of thing have to happen while he was still around? Was this some sort of divine punishment for something he had done in a previous life? Being the mediator in a Hiruma versus Agon dispute was not something he cared to do in his free time.

'It's too late in the day for this sort of thing to happen.' Sena sighed loudly, figuring the sound wouldn't be enough for either of the boys to tear their attention away from each other.

"You should get home Sena, morning practice is going to be killer tomorrow." Hiruma mentioned offhandedly and Sena blinked in surprise at the use of his actual name before the comment even registered.

'Wait, what?'

"Yeah, remember you've got to kick ass next game, or I won't forgive you." Agon lightly punched him on the shoulder, it was more of a tap really.

And then...

And then both of them turned and walked away, Agon following along the fence, and Hiruma going from whence he came.

Sena stared in shock, had they mutually decided not to fight for once? They actually avoided a confrontation? He hadn't even heard 'fucking dreads' or 'trash' come out of either of their mouths.

Was this some sort of trick to lure him into a false sense of security before they pounced at each other with murderous intent?

"Um... Uh..." He whipped his head back and forth several times.

'What's going on? This is just _bizarre_.' He sent one last look at each of the retreating boys before slumping over.

'Whatever, instead of wondering why they didn't fight, I should be happy they didn't fight.'

But damn, he couldn't help but be curious when something so perplexing happened when he was there to witness it. It kind of made him wonder what would have happened if he hadn't been there. Not that he thought his presence had done much to influence the situation, other than causing the two to meet up again in the first place.

'Although it would have been nice if the reason they didn't fight was because they know how much it stresses me out.' Sena thought as he made his way off of the school's property.

But while that wasn't entirely improbable, Sena would be lying if he said that he thought that was the actual reason they hadn't had a confrontation.

Well, maybe Hiruma would do something like that, if only to keep his mentality stable for upcoming games, but Agon, even if he was slightly less egocentric than usual, seemed a little too self-serving to keep his mental health in mind.

'And he didn't bother to answer my question either. I don't call him and ask him myself because it feels awkward to talk over the phone to someone I haven't seen in a while.' Sena pressed his palm against his forehead with a sigh. 'Julie-neechan was right, my social life is suffering, isn't it?'

But there wasn't much he could do about it, aside from calling people up and asking how they were doing over the phone, at least until he had some free time.

'So, communication via cell phone it is.' Sena dug through his bag for his phone, quickly finding it and going through his contact list.

And maybe while he was at it he could ask Unsui if Agon had done anything productive lately, although he doubted it since apparently Agon had enough free time to come all the way over to Deimon just to speak to him for a couple minutes.

'Would the Naga's practice have ended by now though? Well, I suppose I'll find out soon enough...' He mused as he hit the send button.

No answer.

Well, who else hadn't he spoken to in a while? He'd just called Juri several days ago, and had promised to hang out with her some time after the Deimon/Bando game, Takami had called to check up on him not too long ago and...

And that was it, really, because if someone like Kotarou or Sakuraba wanted to know how he was doing, all they had to do was ask Juri or Takami.

Sena idly flipped his phone open and shut in time with his footsteps as he continued his trek home, feeling rather bored.

Maybe the next time he saw them he could ask for Kakei and Mizumachi's numbers? They, well, Mizumachi at least, seemed like he'd be a lot of fun to talk to about anything, and Kakei seemed like he'd be good at giving advice.

'But I probably won't see them until Sunday before or after the game...'

Had his life always been this _stodgy_ before football?

'Well, at least practice tomorrow will liven things up.'

Or stress him out more, either/and/or.

Afternoon practice had hardly started when Sena had managed to catch a glimpse of a certain someone standing around. Not hiding, but somewhat concealed due to the fact that there was a small group of students, mostly girls, watching the practice around the area as well.

Agon showing up two days in a row? Something must be amiss. Maybe he was here to 'make up' for the relatively peaceful way he'd left yesterday. Or maybe he a date, or two, with a girl in the area and was just stopping by to irritate Hiruma, or keep a watchful eye on him.

Was dropping by in order to tell Sena he had to do well in upcoming games going to become a habit? Sure it did boost his confidence a bit, because he highly doubted Agon would do such a thing for anyone else, but at the same time it was a little unnerving...

Perhaps if he pretended not to notice Agon, the other boy would get bored and leave?

'Probably not.'

In fact, the only way to get Agon to leave was probably to acknowledge his presence, which was something he didn't want to do while practice was underway. He didn't know for sure if Hiruma knew Agon was already here, and he didn't want to find out.

He was going to look to the side again, just to make sure Agon wasn't going to step into plain sight any time soon, when someone stepped in front of him.

"Hey Sena, you seem kind of out of it today, are you alright?"

"Wha-? Oh yes, yeah I'm fine, I've just have something on my mind recently." Sena pointedly stared straight ahead of him, at Juumonji's chest, in an effort to keep himself from turning his head to glance at said distraction, thus alerting Juumonji to Agon's presence.

Sena didn't want any confrontations of any kind to happen, and somehow he got the feeling that if Juumonji knew he was being watched, well, a confrontation would be bound to happen.

"Oh, I see."

The downcast tone of the blonde's voice caused Sena to crane his neck in order to look at the taller boy's face.

He looked... Guilty?

"No Juumonji-kun! I'm not exactly certain what it is that you're thinking, but I haven't been distracted because of what happened that night!" Sena quickly waved his hands around, as if to dispel whatever notion had taken root inside Juumonji's head.

Making Juumonji feel guilty made _him_ feel guilty because he had sort of avoided him the day after _the incident_, even though it hadn't been because of Juumonji himself.

Juumonji rose an eyebrow. "But you haven't really been talking to me lately, so I was wondering if you were feeling too awkward to, and just now it seemed like you were blatantly refusing to look me in the eye."

"Ah, is that what it seemed like?" Sena twiddled his thumbs and squashed the urge to look in Agon's direction. "I've just been thinking about the upcoming game a lot lately, I've been in a sort of daze because of it really."

"Oh."

Juumonji sounded somewhat relieved, and in order to keep him in that state of mind Sena went on.

"Besides, I have an older friend who can effortlessly make me feel awkward and freaked out, but that doesn't mean I think any less of him."

'Wait, was that really a good thing to say to someone who currently thinks he's making me feel awkward?'

"You mean Hiruma?"

"Yeah, him too."

Juumonji braced his hand on his hips and looked about ready to begin some further questioning until a pair of large hands clasped onto each of their shoulders.

"Are you guys going to chat for the rest of practice or what?" Musashi asked in a bored tone. "If you slack off much longer, Hiruma will be after you with a vengeance."

"Ah, how very true that is! I'd better go back to my drills!" Sena waved a quick good-bye as Musashi tugged Juumonji towards the other linemen and threw a quick look to his side as he made his way toward the pylons Mamori had set up.

Agon was gone.

_Thank God_, now he didn't have to worry about the dread head getting discovered and could focus on more important things.

Practice finished without too many hitches, although Sena sometimes found his attention wandering because he couldn't seem to convince himself Agon was gone for good.

As such he'd been shot at a little more than he usually was, and Monta had worriedly asked him if something was wrong once practice was over.

"I'm fine, I've just been wondering about what Kakei-kun said when we went to talk to him."

"Oh..." Monta's eyebrows furrowed. "What did he say again?"

"Nothing too important, just that Akaba-san was a really skilled opponent, but that he might not actually be the Eyeshield that he faced in America."

"But you'll probably be able to figure out if he's the real deal in the next game, right? Or you could just ask him after we win." Monta suggested smoothly as he buttoned up his shirt.

"You seem really confident about this match."

"Of course, because I'm going to make up for what happened during the game against Seibu." Monta nodded to himself vigourously. "There's no way I'm going to let us lose, especially now that Musashi-san just came back."

Sena glanced at the mature second year and nodded swiftly in agreement.

'We have to win the next game, not just so I can prove myself to the first other Eyeshield that I'm going to face, but so the original three Devil Bats can keep playing together, all the way to the Christmas Bowl.'

The following morning brought forth a number of ominously dark clouds that seemed to multiply every couple of minutes until the sky was completely blanketed in a sooty looking grey. So it was no surprise when, by the time the morning bell had rung, it started to rain.

He stared outside dully as the class representative spoke about the upcoming culture festival, wondering if the rain would let up before practice started.

'And I wonder if Agon-san will show up today as well.' Sena pursed his lips and blinked at the reflection of the window before turning his attention to the front, a good chuck of his classmates had risen their hands into the air, and the class rep. appeared to be tallying the number.

Oh, they were already voting on what their class was supposed to do?

"Okay, and who wanted to do the play?"

Sena rose his hand up, more for the sake of participation than the desire to do a play, before his mind slipped back to thinking about how practice would be that day.

Coincidentally, due to the rain no one had stuck around to watch their practice as they had the previous day, and Agon was no where in sight.

Sena also didn't get the feeling he was being watched, so he took it as a sign that everything was fine, for now.

The following days passed with an equal absence of Agon, as well as an absence of rain, and by throwing himself into practice without having to worry about being watched in an unnerving fashion the time flew by, only slowing down to a normal pace when it was the night before game-day.

During dinner with his mother and father he had sent multiple looks their way, wondering whether or not he should ask them to come to the stadium for the game tomorrow. He didn't think they would, unless he told them exactly why he wanted them to watch, but if he told his mother, and then she went on to tell her friends, well...

A surprise just wasn't a surprise when everyone you wanted to catch unawares already knew the _shocking truth_.

'Maybe I'll ask them in the morning...' He thought as he went to bed, Pitt lazily curling up by his feet. 'And even if they can't come to the stadium, they could always just watch it on television. Although it would be really funny to see the looks on their faces when I reveal who I am.' He chuckled lightly.

He hoped he was this optimistic about the whole ordeal in the morning too.

Normally he woke up quickly on game days, immediately opening his eyes as soon as he came to and hopping out of bed on the double. But strangely enough, today he woke up and waited for his alarm to go off before actually bothering to get out of bed. Maybe it was because he needed just a little more time to himself before dashing off chaotically.

Today was October twenty third after all, the day that would essentially make or brake him.

'There's nothing to worry about, I just need to focus on the game and nothing else.' Especially not what he was going to do before the game.

Breath in, breath out, inhale the good, exhale the bad and all that other calming stuff.

He made his way downstairs, rubbing at his eyes as he softly padded into the kitchen.

"Breakfast will be ready soon, would you like a cup of tea?" His mother asked just as the kettle began to release a light stream of steam.

"No, I'll get myself some juice later." He responded as he sat down at the table, cupping his chin in his hands as he watched his mother nod and go about her daily routine until the the amount of steam indicated the water was hot enough.

"You're probably too busy to come to the game today, right?" He asked, although he felt he didn't really need to. His parent's had never come to any of his games, of course, that could be largely due to the fact they didn't know he actually participated in the game-play.

"Yes, why do you ask?" She questioned as she poured herself a cup of tea.

"Well, they'll be airing the game on that Sports-A-Go-Go channel, and this game is pretty important, to me especially."

His mother perked up at the mention of it's apparent importance and leaned in curiously.

"So I was just hoping that, since you can't come in person, you and dad might find the time to tune in to it, even if it's just at the beginning. It would really mean a lot to me."

"Oh sweetie, of course I'll watch it if it means so much to you. I'll even cheer all of your friends on. Which school is your team playing today?"

"Bando."

"Bando? That sounds familiar for some reason..." She leaned against the kitchen counter and sipped at her tea idly, eyebrows creasing in thought.

"It's the school Julie-neechan goes to." Sena helpfully informed, and he could have sworn his mother almost choked on her tea at the fact.

"What? So it's like childhood friends being pitted again each other?"

"It's not like that at all. You know I played Oujou in the spring, but you never mentioned thinking of it like that."

She crossed her arms, ignoring her tea in favour of giving him a puzzled look. "Well, that's because Takami-kun plays and you don't. But Juri-chan is a manager too right? So it's like a battle to see who manages their team the best."

"That's really not how it is..."

"Don't worry. I will still cheer for your friends, _most of whom I have never actually met_, instead of supporting Juri-chan, although it pains me to do so."

"You can cheer for Julie-neechan too, if it makes you feel better." Sena suggested lightly before moving on. "And maybe, if we win this game, we could have some sort of victory party and you could finally meet everyone."

"R-really? You mean you'll actually, _finally_, let me meet all of your new friends?! Then your team had better win today!" She pumped her fist into the air rather energetically. "But even if you lose, I'm going to meet them all someday, even if I have to sneak over during a practice and loudly introduce myself!"

... That would be kind of embarrassing, maybe she was just saying that in order to give him more incentive?

'No, she would do that.'

His father ambled into the kitchen soon afterwards and the family sat down for a quiet breakfast together, with Sena softly informing his mother of the time the game was supposed to start before he went upstairs to get ready.

Today was his day of reckoning, and as long as he got through it scot-free, he'd be living through another one in his near future.


	107. Chapter 107

FASH: My favourite part about this chapter is all the reactions (which take up most of the chapter), I've been waiting to write them for _ages_! Let's pretend Mizumachi didn't get the kickoff time wrong, so that he and Kakei were there on time for the big reveal. Anyways, I closed the poll, for full info I wrote a huge AN in my profile.

""-speech

''-thoughts

He arrived at the stadium earlier than the majority of his team mates, somehow hoping that staring at the slowly filling stands would help settle the nervousness he was feeling.

It had helped a little at first, until he saw a multitude of clouds burst forth from several industrial sized dry ice machines.

'They're not using that for our game, right? They're saving all that for the finals this afternoon, right?' He asked himself, his heart beating a little bit faster.

With Hiruma, you never really knew what to expect, and everyone knew how much Hiruma liked making impressions.

He watched the stands for several more minutes before drifting back to the change room to get ready, ignoring the fluttering feeing that apparently all his major organs were intent on making.

He hadn't expected to feel quite as skittish as he did, he'd been under the impression that he'd be more scared of Hiruma in case the blonde didn't agree with the necessity to reveal himself.

He hadn't really told Hiruma about his plan, although the quarterback probably had a good idea about what was about to happen.

'Hiruma Yoichi is practically synonymous with psychic, after all.'

Besides, even if Hiruma decided to throw a fit about Sena's actions the brunette was sure he could handle it without too much cowering on his part.

So why was he so on edge?

Maybe he had become a little too used to keeping his identity hidden and covering up his tracks, and now that everything, including various lies he'd told for the sake of secrecy, was about to come to light...

It felt sort of like he was standing on a bridge, preparing himself to jump off into the cool, deep water far below. He'd do a countdown, otherwise he'd end up being incredibly indecisive, and right after he jumped off the ledge he'd be terrified, but there'd be no turning back, he'd brake the surface of the water and think that it wasn't all that bad, and then when he came up for air he'd realize how amazing it had been and how happy he was that he'd gone through with it.

Theoretically, Sena supposed that was what this experience was going to be like, although he hoped it didn't render him as breathless as being underwater would.

But before he took the plunge completely, there was something else he needed to do.

Mamori, who had been his companion since _infancy_ and was the most likely to be affected by this, deserved to be told the truth to her face, not _en masse_ like everyone else.

After changing into his uniform he left the rest of his team mates to stand in the hallway, knowing that sooner or later, as the kickoff time drew nearer, his absence would be noticed and Mamori would be the one most likely to look for him.

He tapped his foot in time with his heartbeat as he waited, trying to keep calm.

'I really hope Mamori-neechan is understanding about this.' Not that he'd let her stop him, on the slight chance that she'd try to, but it would be easier to deal with everything if he knew Mamori wasn't going to try physically restraining him to keep him off of the field or some other drastic measure.

A few minutes later, as he expected, he heard Mamori's muffled voice asking where _Eyeshield-kun_ had wandered off to before she found him in a hallway.

"Ah, here you are. The introductions are about to start Eyeshield-kun." Mamori said as she approached.

Sena turned towards her, took a deep breath, and removed his helmet.

Blue eyes stared at him in confusion and shock, eyebrows raising and disappearing beneath her bangs, before realization began to set in.

Mamori was taking this seriously, she knew it wasn't some sort of prank, this was a pretty good start.

"Sena?" She asked softy, her voice hardly above a whisper. "Wh-what are you doing? Football is..." Her eyes were pinned on him as he removed the eyeshield and let it drop to the floor, although they wavered every few seconds.

Slowly but surely the pieces of the puzzle were connecting in front of her, she was too smart to discard or deny all the evidence now that the truth was laid bare in front of her.

She swallowed dryly.

"Football's too dangerous for you." She finished half-heartedly, still holding on to the old feelings of the maternal sort of protection she harboured for the younger boy, even though she knew that, as Eyeshield, he could handle himself.

"I'm sorry I couldn't tell you Mamori-neechan, but I-" Sena paused, just for a split second, steeling his nerves one last time. "I've become strong."

The door to the change room had opened and his friends, _team mates_, were beginning to come out, Sena turned, already starting a light jog towards the end of the hall where the entrance to the field was

"I've gotta go, because I'm..."

He didn't finish, but he knew that Mamori was already filling in the blank with the things she always thought Eyeshield was, only now they were applied to _him_ as well.

Mamori didn't call out, didn't race after him to demand an explanation, she just stood still, allowing him to move forward, spread his wings and fly away from the nest.

"_The winner heads to Kantou, and the loser goes home! It's a must win for both teams!_" The announcer's voice echoed in the corridor, and Sena was close enough to see the clouds from the dry ice blanketing the doorway. "_This fateful battle pits Deimon against Bando! First, here come the Devil Bats!_"

The corners of Sena's lips curled upward. Fateful, indeed.

"_The light speed running back, Eyeshield twenty, no-!_"

Sena dashed through the clouds at top speed, already certain of what was to come next. Hiruma had known what he was going to do after all.

"_It's Kobayakawa Sena!_"

He burst through, pressing his helmet tightly against his side as he stepped onto the field as himself, wondering how everyone else would deal with this startling revelation.

-x-x-x-

Mihae abruptly paused and dropped the dishes she'd been collecting back on to the table, whirling around at the screen to see if she had heard wrong.

"Sena?! What on Earth-?"

Shuma, although just as surprised as his wife, acted a little more calmly and set his newspaper down on the table.

"Hm? So that's what he's been putting all of his energy into." He commented and Mihae turned to gape at him, aghast.

"How can you be so composed at a time like this? What if Sena gets hurt?!"

"Dear, if Sena's been playing for over half a year without us realizing it, then he's probably good enough to keep himself from getting injured."

Mihae twiddled her thumbs, her stubborn attitude already beginning to give way. "But-"

"Why don't we just watch the match without worrying? Sena did say it was important to him."

Mihae nodded and silently sat back down, turning to the screen with wide eyes.

'I don't really understand the rules, but you can count on mom to cheer for you!' She thought, nodding along before excitedly pumping a fist into the air.

"Go Sena! Go Deimon!"

-x-x-x-

"I see... Even back then you were..." Sakuraba trailed off, thoughts of the past hospital visit flying from his head when he noticed the rigid posture of the boy next to him. "... Takami-san?"

To say Takami was surprised would be a bit of an understatement, even though he himself had known of Sena's speed and growing love of football. It was just hard to imagine that the boy he had once played with due to their mothers' connection and Sena's 'school problems' had become such a tough opponent. It was almost mind boggling, even after putting the pieces together and realizing that, theoretically, it wasn't that far fetched.

"Takami-san?" Sakuraba repeated, a little more concerned now, but Takami managed to snap himself out of it with a weak smile.

"I... I sort of instinctively want to keep Sena away from harm, even though I know how amazing his skills are on the field, strange isn't it?"

"Not at all." Replied a voice deeper than Sakuraba's and Takami leaned forward a little so he could glance past the receiver at Shin.

The linebacker seemed to be awfully understanding for some reason, it made Takami feel somewhat suspicious.

'Wait a minute, if Shin recognizes body types and not faces...'

"How long have you known that Eyeshield twenty one was Sena?" Takami asked flatly, not wanting to beat around the bush.

"Since midway through our game together in the spring tournament." Shin answered back just as directly.

"Oh, is that so? And you decided not to tell me because...?" Takami adjusted his glasses, the light flashing off of them in an almost sinister fashion.

"Sena-kun wished to keep it a secret. I assume he did not want to be smothered by various people's concerns which were brought forth from how he was when he was younger."

"Yes, I suppose he wanted some room to grow."

Sakuraba worriedly glanced from side to side, as if he were watching a tennis match.

Was it just him, or was the awkwardness level rising?

'Go Sena-kun!' He cheered inwardly, too conscious of the players on either side of him to say anything aloud.

He just hoped the entire game wouldn't be spent in this awkward silence.

-x-x-x-

"Ooooh! It's like the shock Lois Lane would go through if she found out Clark Kent was Superman!" Mizumachi exclaimed as he leaned forward in his seat, turning to look at Kakei who sat silently beside him, not looking entirely too surprised.

Mizumachi pouted at the lack of reaction, he'd been hoping that Kakei would at least show a small degree of shock.

'Even if not shock, it'd be more fun if he had _some sort_ of reaction...'

"Man, you must feel really awkward now." The blonde began slyly. "Since you said some pretty _uncivil_ things to Eyeshield-twenty-one-Sena before our game, even though you were nice to Manager-Sena."

Kakei blushed. "Sena's a nice guy, I'm sure he doesn't dwell on such things."

'Uwah! Kakei's cheeks are going pink!' The blonde somehow managed to keep himself from laughing hysterically.

"Hmm? You sure?" Mizumachi teased lightly, delighted at the colour that was steadily spreading over the other boy's cheeks. "Well, in any case, Sena-chan sure looks good in uniform, eh Kakei-_chan_?"

Kakei lifted his head up, the beginnings of a nod in agreement, but he suddenly paused and blinked.

"Beg pardon?"

"Don't play dumb! I know exactly what's going through your mind right now. Sena in the change room, slowly undre- ow!"

Kakei pulled his hand back from the abrupt karate chop he'd bestowed upon Mizumachi's head.

"I'm not a pervert, unlike you."

"Oh, you wound me." Mizumachi pouted dramatically.

"Besides, we're on different teams, I wouldn't be in the same change room as him at the same time anyways." Kakei said logically as his eyes turned back towards the field, unaware of the delightfully scandalized look Mizumachi was sending his way.

"_Oh_?! So you_ were_ thinking about it!"

"Mizumachi."

"Don't worry Kakei-_chan_! There's always university!"

"_Mizumachi._"

"His school isn't an elevator system after all, so we can make him come to Kyoshin University with us, and then you can live out your fanta-"

"Mizumachi, be quiet."

The blonde complied, although the grin he was sporting proved that Kakei hadn't heard the last of him yet.

Kakei rarely got flustered over anything, after all, this was too great of an opportunity to let go to waste.

-x-x-x-

Marco proceeded to choke on the air in a very undignified manner, and Maruko blinked rapidly beside him, unable to believe her eyes or ears.

"Wait a minute... Is Sena-chan a girl... Or a guy?"

'That's a good question, I wish I knew the answer to it for sure.' Marco valiantly evened out his breathing before answering.

"I don't think they'd let a girl play, Maria."

Maruko ignored the nickname, too focused to be bothered about it.

"She... Sena-chan's so small though! Isn't it too dangerous for her?!"

'Falling from a tree is way more dangerous, but she walked away from that accident without too much trouble.'

"Maybe she likes danger, maybe it gives her a thrill."

Marco was swiftly whacked in the back of the head. "What? Some people are like that! And she, if she truly is female,_ did _push me, a _complete stranger_ at the time, out of the way of a _moving truck_ even though Gaou handled it."

Maruko crossed her arms stubbornly, Marco ignored the action and continued.

"Sena-chan _was_ a spy in the first place, and I've heard _rumours_ from _reliable sources_ about the captain of the Devil Bats, he seems like the type who wouldn't be bothered by blackmailing the prime minister, let alone forcing one of his players to cross dress so he could spy on a team."

"But what if she's just pretending to be a guy so that she can play? Maybe she's a tomboy, maybe she's a feminist who decided to play a sport dominated by men in order to prove her worth as a female player?"

"I suppose that might be true..." 'Doubtful, but there's a slim chance of that being the case.'

"We'll have to ask her the next time we see her."

Marco turned to give her an incredulous look. "You can do that on your own. Conversation between _girls_ is one thing, but if I, a male, tell Sena-chan, who is presumably a female, that I am confused about her gender, things won't end very well for me, I'd say."

Maruko opened her mouth to retort but, after running the scenario through her head, shut it with a near audible 'click' of teeth.

"You might have a point." She agreed belatedly.

"Thank you."

-x-x-x-

"Hmm? Isn't that the guy who addressed Agon with a _chan_ tacked on to-"

"Goodness, can you believe it?!" Unsui cut in, concern for his _grave digging _team mate taking over despite the shock as he glanced at his brother.

His _oddly calm_ brother.

He knew Agon didn't react to a lot of things (in ways that didn't involve violence), but surely _this _was a shock, even to him.

"Don't you think this is astonishing?"

"Of course not, anyone who knew Sena well enough would know it was him." Agon stated arrogantly.

'Sena? Not: that 'kid', 'brat' or 'trash'?'

Unsui threw his brother a look of mild disbelief before something in his mind clicked.

"Agon, how long have you known about this?"

Agon smirked darkly, eyes glinting proudly from behind his sunglasses. "Since the very beginning."

Unsui felt a chill go down his spine and wondered briefly if he should be worried about _how well_ Agon apparently knew Sena.

But at least his twin was straight, otherwise he wouldn't know how to react to this at all.

-x-x-x-

Inside the hallways on the opposite side of the field, vision not completely obscured by the clouds, Juri was speechless, along with, surprising as it may be, Kotarou.

That state didn't last long though, for either of them.

"What. The. Fuck?!"

"He had a secret identity? Awesomely smart!"

They quickly turned to look at each other in disbelief, and Akaba sighed at the argument he knew was about to start.

"_Smart?_ What exactly is _smart _about it?!"

Kotarou ran his comb through his hair intently. "He's like a super hero, concealing his identity from the people who care too much about him-" Juri let out an indignant huff at that. "and would keep him from putting himself in danger. Damn, that's cool, I should have tried concealing my identity too!"

"Kotarou you-! Never mind, you idiot, how could he have gone and joined the team as a player without telling me? What if he got hurt?!"

Kotarou put his comb away and frowned. "Uh, _Manager_ Julie, what exactly do you think all that protection players wear is for?"

"He has a point." Akaba spoke up. Juri frowned at him for choosing Kotarou's side before turning her attention back to her childhood friend.

"That's not what I-! Oh, whatever, you don't understand at all!"

"No wonder he kept it a secret from you, he wouldn't have made any progress if you decided to smother him or talk him out of playing. The kid needs some room to make his own decisions without a bunch of mother hens breathing down his neck and making him anxious."

"Oh God..." Juri clasped a hand over her mouth in mock-horror.

"What? Don't tell me you're gonna be sick or something."

"You actually just said something... Smart, as in intelligent."

"Don't you listen to me? I say smart stuff all the time." Kotarou turned back to the field, smile pulling at his lips. "This game is going to be fun."

"This game is going to be torture." Juri buried her face in her hands and sighed before pulling herself together. "You guys better not go easy on him, just because we're all friends."

"I wasn't planning to, it would be an insult to him if I didn't play with my full strength."

"Fuu." Akaba strummed his guitar in agreement.


	108. Chapter 108

FASH: Had a bit of an off-week again, this chapter was not co-operating with me at all. Sadness. But there's a bunch of stuff I want to write after this game (Culture festival, Evil!Agon VS Mizumachi et cetera et cetera.) so once it's over I should be able to go back to my more regular updating habits.

""-speech

''-thoughts

The crowd was nearly silent for several long moments, mumbled whispers of disbelief from the Deimon supporters mixing together to create a soft background noise as they figured out _who exactly_ Kobayakawa Sena was.

The 'quiet first year'.

For a split second Sena wondered if the _audience_ would think that this was some sort of prank, even after he'd dashed onto the field with everything he had.

His worries were eradicated when Suzuna shouted his name loudly, and afterwards the onlookers broke out into what he was sure were the loudest cheers he had ever heard. Chanting his name as if they had been shouting it ever since the very beginning, with no hesitation at all.

And the icing on the cake: none of the people he classified as his elder sibling figures had stormed the field in order to 'talk sense into him'.

Within several stunned seconds Sena found himself bowing deeply in thanks for the praise that seemed to accompany his name every time it was yelled, and he was minorly surprised when he felt his eyes becoming slightly wet, not enough for tears to fall, but enough that he was grateful that none of his team mates were around to see his glassy eyes.

His named being shouted like this, he wanted to hear it again and again until it no longer seemed strange, and maybe then some more.

'Although I shouldn't let all of this stroke my ego too much.' He turned back towards the field entrance to watch the rest of his team mates come out.

"_Moving on, here come the other Devil Bats! The one-hundred-and-sixty-kilo-barbell lifting unsinkable ship! Kurita Ryokan!_"

Kurita stepped forward, quivering just a little but otherwise looking every inch the magnificent lineman that he was.

"_He gave his life to catching, the flying monkey with magic hands! Raimon Taro!_"

Monta looked a little miffed at being called a monkey at first, but he quickly got over it and struck and pose.

"_The gentle idiot! Taki Natsuhiko!_"

Taki, who'd been making his entrance more flashy by doing a Y-spin, abruptly paused, leg still pointing skyward. "That's impossible!"

"_And now, the man who turns white ice black._" And indeed the clouds surrounding him took on a deep, almost purple tone, so Hiruma had probably rigged the machines while no one was looking. "_The play-maker from hell Hiruma Yoichi!_"

He looked more devious than usual as he stepped onto the field, clearly pleased with his mischief making.

"_Next up, we have hell's guardians! The nimble, pea-sized tank: Komusubi Daikichi!_"

Komusubi clenched his fists tightly. "Fugo!"

"_Balance and technique: Juumonji Kazuki! Speed and spirit: Kuroki Kouji! Solid power: Toganou Shouzo! Together these three make up the Huh-Huh Brothers!_"

"Huh?"

"Huuuh?!"

"HUUUUUUH?!"

"Like we've said before, we're _not_ brothers!" They loudly protested, even though by doing their normal routine they only reenforced the stereotype.

"_On big kicks, it's the sixty yard magnum, Takekura Gen!_"

Musashi stepped onto the field, the _epitome_ of calmness.

"_He of the shiny head-_" At this Yukimitsu pointed to himself in vague, but not complete, disbelief. "_Yukimitsu Manabu!_"

"_Next, their overworked helpers! The modest Ishimaru from the track team, Yamaoka and Satake of the basketball club, and Omosadake from the sumo club!_" The four dashed onto the field, Cerberus hot on their heels.

"_And let's not forget Deimon's manager: Anezaki Mamori! The incredible multi-tasker! She communicates from the bench with pretzel sticks and sign language!_"

"Yay! Go Mamo-nee!"

Mamori approached them at a leisurely pace, a bright smile firmly in place that instantly put Sena at ease.

"Okay everyone, make sure you've got your play books!"

"Let's do this!"

"_Deimon's trainer: Doburoku!_"

The man was, for the most part, ignored.

"A glance, anyone?"

Mamori turned towards Sena, smile not faltering in the least. "Good luck, Sena. Here's your play book."

Sena took hold of the small pamphlet with a grateful smile. "Thanks."

"_And now, Deimon's opponents: the Bando Spiders! The smart kicker with perfect accuracy, Kotarou Sasaki!_"

Kotarou emerged from the the fog, helmet in one hand, comb in the other

"_Next, the red eyed ace-_" A guitar rift started up and Kotarou not-so-discreetly spat while combing his hair. "_Akaba Hayato... The real Eyeshield twenty one!_"

Akaba handed his guitar over to Juri and stepped completely into sight, helmet and eyeshield already in place.

The side supporting Deimon once again broke out into low murmurs, disbelief apparent in their voices.

"What?"

"The real... Who?"

"But Sena was Eyeshield twenty one first.... Wasn't he?"

"But then Akaba wouldn't be the 'real' one, right? If the announcers say that he is..."

They were taking it pretty well, all things considered. Sena didn't know what he'd do if the audience, who'd just become used to the fact that he was really Eyeshield, turned on him at the drop of a hat.

He wasn't sure how many more times he could endure being called a fake.

The Bando introductions ended with Juri making her way to the sidelines, but not before sending multiple glances Sena's way, as if to assure herself that it really was him.

'It's kind of unnerving to be under scrutiny by someone you've known for years.' Well, he supposed he _sort of_ deserved it, since he'd been keeping a whole lot of secrets.

"_Deimon will be receiving and Bando, kicking off! Kotarou's kicks don't get much distance, but his placement is perfect, making returns difficult. Even Eyeshi- no, make that Kobayakawa, may run into difficulty._" One of the announcers reported as everyone got into position.

Akaba seemed to have said something that irritated Kotarou, which wasn't that much of a feat, because the dark haired boy turned to him and glared darkly while responding before storming into place.

Kotarou took a deep breath to calm himself down before gazing at the opponents across from him, his eyes locking onto one person in particular.

"Take a look, Musashi, at the Bando Spiders." Kotarou shamelessly announced as he prepared to run forward. "We're the smartest kicking team, and we mean war!"

He began running forward, and a split second later the rest of the Bando players began moving to the right.

"Everyone move up, it's an onside kick! It's gonna be a low one!" Hiruma ordered and everybody quickly complied, racing over to where the Spiders were.

"If it's a dribbler, I can't lose." Monta proclaimed determined. "I didn't even lose to Tetsuma-sempai!"

And with Monta on their side, he should have almost effortlessly been able to grab it and keep the ball in Deimon's possession.

But then Kotarou finally reached the ball and kicked it much higher than expected. It soared in a graceful arc above a number of Bando and Deimon players, and the Spiders, used to playing with Kotarou's one hundred percent accuracy, knew exactly where it was going to land.

The linemen of the teams had collided, but once again the Spiders had an advantage due to Akaba's training.

Kurita had positioned himself in front of Sena and Monta to hold off the oncoming Bando players while the smaller boys went to get the ball.

That plan probably would have worked, if Akaba himself hadn't come along.

The red eyed boy dashed forward, nonchalantly saying: "Here, Sena-kun. Allow me to show the power of a real Eyeshield twenty one."

And just like that he pushed Kurita out of the way and managed to grab on to the ball before Sena could reach it.

"_Bando ball!_"

Kotarou combed his hair back proudly. "Yeah, that was pretty smart... Huh?" He blinked, realizing he had just inadvertently complimented Akaba.

To make up for it, he spat in the redhead's direction.

'Some things never change...' Sena thought fondly before snapping back to the situation at hand.

"_Deimon was supposed to start the game with possession, but just like that, it's Bando's ball! So here comes the Spider's offence!_"

"Man, that was even more amazing then when he pushed Kurita-san away to save his guitar!" Monta exclaimed. "He even went right after the ball after that block, is he human?"

"Yes Monta, he's human."

"But he's a pretty lean looking guy, it seems pretty improbable for a human to-"

"It has something to do with a player's center of gravity." Sena cut in before Monta could convince himself even further that Akaba was not from this planet. "I don't really understand much about it though."

"Oh." Monta looked oddly disappointed for some inexplicable reason.

Maybe it would have been easier to go ahead with the alien theory.

"Did you see that? This is the power of a kicking team!" Kotarou stated loudly.

"A kicking team?" Monta parroted.

"Yeah." Musashi spoke up, startling the receiver more than just a little. "There's offence and defence, and then a third 'special' team. While kicking teams are normally overlooked, Bando managed to make it this far in the tournament as they are, with their focus on kicking." Musashi absentmindedly scratched at his ear. "That alone should tell you how strong these guys are."

"Well, it wouldn't be fun if it were easy, right?" Monta asked, cracking his knuckles and Sena nodded in agreement as they got into position.

The Bando team set themselves up to try for a field goal which they, as expected, easily achieved, earning themselves three points before Deimon even had the chance to touch the ball.

"_In this battle for a ticket to the Kantou Tournament, Deimon was to start on offence, but just a few minutes into the game the Bando Spiders have drawn first blood!_"

Well, this was a little different from what Sena had initially envisioned the first part of the game to be. He'd sort of been hoping that he'd be able to score a touchdown right off the bat.

"Dreams of glory, huh?" Monta spoke up, apparently reading his mind, and Komusubi nodded jerkily beside him. "We're all so alike."

"I-I'm just excited because it's my first game as myself!" Sena protested, although he was pretty sure he wasn't fooling anybody. "Y-you guys were that way too, right?"

"Enough chatter and get with it, you fucking pipsqueaks!" Hiruma commanded.

The three first years quickly complied.

"Did you see that, Musashi?" Kotarou widened his stance and pointed at the mature second year, he looked like he was having fun. "Because of our kicking team, you're now stuck in the Spider's Web. The coolest strategy out there is the Spider's Web!"

"Spider's Web?"

"Fuu." Akaba toyed with the edge of his eyeshield, and Sena could just _tell_ that he was about to say something that would rile Kotarou up.

That's what usually happened when Akaba sighed like that.

"I'm not against your musical sense in boosting team morale by naming the strategy...." The redhead began. "But I can't agree with singing it to the other team."

"Music's-"

"Got nothing-"

"To do with-"

"Football!"

Kotarou, Juumonji, Kuroki and Toganou said flawlessly, as if they'd practised it beforehand.

"Stop consorting with the enemy, Kotarou." Juri chided lightly before snapping her attention on to Sena, who nearly tripped over himself at the sudden, direct observation he was being put under.

'Ah, maybe Julie-neechan feels a bit bitter about not being told my identity beforehand? But Kotarou-san and Akaba-san seem to have taken it really well...'

Sena slowly turned away, maybe if he didn't see her staring at him, he could just pretend that she wasn't.

"This is the second time! So we've got nothing to hide!" Kotarou flicked out his comb again and began brushing through his hair. "Here we go again, another onside kick!"

"What?!"

"Oh man. He told them the plan." Juri remarked dryly, ripping her attention away from Sena to stare at her other childhood friend.

"Fuu, what can I say..." Akaba began moving to the side, the rest of the Bando players following after him.

"_Mukah_! They're toying with us!" Monta angrily clenched his fists and Sena gripped onto the sides of his helmet restlessly.

"If they keep this up... They'll keep doing onside kicks, gain possession of the ball, and score points."

"I see you figured it out, pretty smart, huh?" Kotarou asked and before he could stop himself Sena had started nodding.

"Sena-kun... I hate to say it, but if we went one on one, I would crush you." Akaba stated simply. "But today, I've got an easier way to deal with those light-speed feet of yours. That's to never let you touch the ball."

Even though they had prior warning to what Kotarou was going to do next, that didn't make snatching the ball any easier. Even as Juumonji, Kuroki and Toganou attempted to make a wall to keep Bando from getting though, Akaba was able to blow them away just like he had with Kurita, allowing another Bando player to dive for the ball while keeping both Sena and Monta back.

"_Wow! Akaba's extreme lead blocking has decimated Deimon's players, giving Bando's Sakai the ball! Bando snags another possession!_"

Sena rubbed at the spot Akaba had pushed to keep him back. Seeing Akaba in action and actually having him use his moves on you were two entirely different things.

'Juumonji-kun looks like he's getting riled up, he's probably surprised that someone can take on the three of them at once.' Sena blinked as a shadow fell across the field, at first thinking his eyes were just playing tricks on him until he looked skyward.

'Where the heck did those clouds blow in from?'

"It got dark all of a sudden." Sena rather lamely announced as the lights surrounding the stadium turned on.

"Yeah, check out how gloomy those clouds are, they're almost black. What was the weather forecast for today?"

"No idea, I don't really check up on those sorts of things." Sena squinted at the clouds, wondering if they were going to end up getting soaked.

"_The Bando Spiders are a mere seven yards away from the end zone! And here comes another field goal attempt by Kotarou!_"

"Block it! Otherwise all these field goals'll give them a huge lead!" Kuroki exclaimed, even though it seem inevitable that Kotarou would manage to get the field goal from such a short distance.

But Hiruma noticed Akaba's too careful handling of the ball a second before the 'kick' took place.

"It's a fake! Stop Akaba!" He yelled, but the other boy had already secured the ball in his gasp, easily bypassing Taki, who'd been the first to react to Hiruma's warning.

"_Touchdown! Bando Spiders: ten, Deimon Devil Bats: zero!_"

"Damn! They were planning that from the very beginning, weren't they?" Monta angrily puffed out his cheeks. "These guys are pretty tricky, it's like they've got a plan for every situation."

"That's because they do. They're a really, and I mean _really_, well trained kick team." Sena vouched. "And they're lining up for another onside kick, so unless we can think of a way to escape the Spider's Web, well..." He trailed off, not sure he wanted to finish that thought.

"We haven't even touched the ball yet." Juumonji mumbled under his breath.

"They can't be serious, it's gotta be a joke." Toganou said unconvincingly.

"How about we try something different?" Hiruma proposed from where he was idly blowing bubbles with his sugar-free gum.

"Sounds good, I'm all ears." Sena leaned in, eager to hear what the blonde was planning.

Hopefully it would help them overcome Akaba's insane blocking, otherwise they'd be done for.

"Well, fucking shrimp, at a time like this, it's best to do something unexpected."

"Unexpected... How?"

"I'm going to act as your shield." Hiruma smirked darkly. "What's more unexpected than that?"

"_What_? Well, um. I suppose that's-"

"It was a rhetorical question, don't bother answering it, just worry about gaining possession of the ball."

"Right."


	109. Chapter 109

FASH: I wanted to get the Bando game done in one more go, so now we're almost at volume twenty (but the culture fest and stuff will keep us from actually reaching twenty for a while), yay! Also, about three weeks from now I'll be going on vacation, but more about that later, for now....

""-speech

'''-thoughts

Hiruma was nothing if not dependable, for the schemes he himself had made up at least, but that didn't make running behind him any less scary, not when he was wearing such a devious expression and letting out a dark aura.

'Woah, this could get wild. I hope Hiruma-san knows what he's doing, even though Akaba-san can take out Kurita-san and the three brothers. No! If it's Hiruma-san, he's definitely going to do something!' Sena thought to himself before tearing his attention away from his 'shield' and focussing on the air born ball.

Hiruma and Akaba collided, Hiruma somehow managing to fake a gravity shift and hold Akaba off for just a second before the red head overpowered him.

But one second was all Sena needed to get his hands on the ball without interference, and once he'd passed over _that hurdle_, running it to the end zone was almost easy in comparison, despite the number of people blocking his path.

And after scoring a touchdown, they were only down by four points, something which Sena rather cheerily stated out loud.

"Hold on there!" Monta cut in, waving his finger as though he were chiding a child.

"After Musashi kicks the ball, it'll be only three!" Kurita said with a large smile which shrunk minimally when Hiruma angrily kicked at both him and Monta.

"The kick's hardly a gimmie! Don't get cocky, remember that the fucking old man doesn't have the best ball control!" Hiruma pointed in Musashi's direction with a glare, and Musashi idly scratched at his ear.

"Let's just set up for the extra point conversion." The kicker suggested and Hiruma seemed to calm down, somewhat.

Everyone quickly got into position and started up, Akaba managing to push through before Musashi had the chance to kick and blocking off the kicking lane with an upraised hand.

Musashi's kick made it anyways, apparently the power behind the ball was enough to keep it going even though Akaba's hand had been in the way.

Hiruma was laughing hysterically, looking extremely pleased, and Musashi was just as composed as ever, Kotarou on the other hand...

"What a smart kick!"

"No it wasn't!" Juri quickly picked up the nearest object, Akaba's guitar, and smacked Kotarou over the head with it, but lightly enough so that the _precious_ object wouldn't break. "He's on the other team!"

"My guitar!"

During the next kickoff Kotarou had managed to get the ball right by the goal line, and Musashi retaliated by kicking it all the way back over to Bando's side.

Kotarou looked broody for a moment, combing at his hair absentmindedly, before quickly putting his hand together above his head to form a 'T'.

"Time out, Bando Spiders!"

"Huh? Who called a time out?"

"Kotarou, what are you doing?!"

Kotarou was striding purposefully towards Musashi, stopping just a couple feet short of him.

"Musashi! Just like I promised, this game comes down to our kicking!" He pointed his comb at the other boy. "Let's see who's the best kicking team ever!"

Musashi was silent for a moment as slowly came to terms with what Kotarou had just told him. "Did you use a time out... Just to say that?"

"Would I do something so lame?"

The look on Musashi's face clearly seemed to say 'yes', but Kotarou continued on valiantly.

"The time out stopped the clock, so now there's time for me to to tell you... All about the history of the Bando Spiders!"

Juri, Akaba and Sena face-palmed in unison.

"Fuu. You leave me speechless."

"You've got one and a half minutes." The ref said, a little disgruntled, and Kotarou quickly started up.

Sena half listened, having heard the story from Juri before, and he wasn't entirely surprised when Kotarou kept speaking as he got into position after his time ran out.

"The kicking team's going to the Christmas Bowl even if it kills us!" He finished after sending the ball flying through the air.

'If it comes down to kicking, we've got Musashi-san. We're all going to get there together!' Sena grabbed a hold of the ball and passed by one Bando player, planning to cut to the right, then Akaba came bearing down on him, roughly tacking him to the ground.

"_It looks like Akaba's warp speed just made mince meat of Kobayakawa Sena's light speed!_"

Sena rose himself up onto his knees, regaining his bearings before standing up.

'No, Akaba-san didn't beat me in speed. But when I was about to cut to the right, Akaba-san already knew. He was ahead of me.'

But predicting his exact movements was...

"He's using run force." Hiruma spoke up after glancing at Sena's bewildered expression.

Akaba threw a look in Hiruma's direction before walking away. "Fuu. Figured it out, huh? I'm not surprised. Interesting..."

"Run force?" Sena wracked his brain trying to find a definition of the term.

"The blockers create a human maze and control where the ball carrier, you, are going. Fucking red eyes already knows where you're headed."

"Ah, I see..."

"Now stop being mystified and get into position." Hiruma rolled his eyes as Sena hurriedly followed the order, stuttering out an apology as he went.

During the next play Taki had tried to open up a path for Sena with some of his 'graceful blocking'.

As one might expect, he was easily taken care of, and even as Sena made his way to a gap on Taki's right, Akaba got there ahead of him and pushed Sena off balance before driving the ball out of his hands. Bando's number thirty one came up behind him and grabbed onto the ball, following after Akaba who was easily opening up a path for the runner all the way until the end zone.

"_Incredible, with a warp speed tackle Akaba forced a fumble!_"

Sena rubbed at his side inattentively as he wandered back to his place. Even after being told about 'run force', it was still surprising to see Akaba appearing in front if him whenever he had _just_ made the decision to go that way. And coupled with Akaba's 'Spider Poison' blocks, it made advancing the ball seem almost impossible.

'Akaba-san is even better than I thought he was.' Sena thought to himself after being tackled yet again. "He's so strong."

Monta looked at him, apparently taking Sena's admission of Akaba's power as an admission of defeat.

"Giving in already?!" He thumped his helmet against Sena's head.

"I'm not giving in!"

"Spirit max! He only beat you a couple times!"

"I'm just amazed at how strong Akaba-san really is when going all out, watching him play and playing against him are so different." Sena smiled lightly. "In a way, I'm very happy..."

He wondered how amazing the Eyeshield from Teikoku was.

"Well, he's the guy whose name you borrowed. What if he were a weakling?"

"I see your point, but Hiruma-san wouldn't have picked out the name for me in that case..."

"Ah, that's true!"

"In any case, in order to get to the Kantou tournament, I've got to beat Akaba-san. But I'm more happy than scared about this situation. I've got chills. He's amazingly strong."

If this was what facing off against Akaba was like, the he couldn't wait until the Christmas Bowl.

"Let me tell you something Sena." Monta began in a knowing voice. "Those chills aren't from fear. You're just excited about blowing Akaba-san away. Because you're an ace, Sena."

"_With everything going Bando's way, Kotarou will attempt a field goal in the final play of the first half._"

Kotarou was fifty yards away, but the steadily strengthening wind that had brought in the dark clouds was on his side, so there was a good chance he'd get it in anyways. And if he managed it, Bando would be starting the second half with a thirteen point lead.

Which meant Deimon had to _kill_ that kick.

As soon as the ball was passed to Akaba, Sena took off towards the kicking team, Akaba leaving the the job of holding the ball in place for the team captain in order to stop Sena from coming any closer.

Kotarou kicked, and the ball just barely fell short of the goal posts.

'Thank goodness, it worked.' Sena thought to himself, laying prone on the ground for a moment while his team mates lightly kicked him in imitation of Hiruma's own silently joyful kicks.

He stood up just in time to feel the full force of a sudden gust of wind, which was efficiently blowing a bunch of dirt into his unprotected eyes. He was really starting to wish he had checked the weather network for today.

"This will have a huge effect on what happens in the second half." Hiruma said, staring up at the sky with a grin. "Heh. This is the Deimon Devil Bats-"

"This wind is the Bando Spiders-"

"Big chance." Akaba and Hiruma finished together, both throwing an all knowing look in the other's direction.

During Kotarou's first field goal attempt of the second half the kick had sent the ball hurtling wide and to the left in an almost unbelievable display, considering Kotarou's one hundred percent accuracy. Then the wind picked up again, sending the ball sailing through the goal posts.

"I used the wind to bend it in. Pretty smart, huh?" Kotarou asked loudly, staring directly at Musashi. "See that? While you were off being a carpenter or whatever I was practising in the wind! This game is ours!"

Musashi stayed silent, even though Kurita was in the throes of a panic attack beside him. Monta was able to calm him down by reminding the second year about their killer offence, but during the next play several Bando players stuck to him like glue, and even though Taki dashed forward to be open for a pass, Akaba quickly impeded his progress.

Hiruma threw the ball to Monta, who stood more of a chance to catch it than Taki, but the wind interfered again, causing the pass to go incomplete.

"Fuu. Passing in this wind is suicide. Huh, Hiruma? This is a running game now." Akaba informed the quarterback in a detached fashion. "And I'm sorry, but with my lead blocking against Sena-kun's running, he's got no chance. The wind is smiling upon the Bando Spiders!"

And, true to his word, Akaba kept stopping Sena before the younger boy could advance very far.

"Hiruma-san..." Sena began after picking himself up off of the ground for the umpteenth time. "That last play, where I rush to the right, can we try it again?"

Hiruma didn't answer, sending a mild look of disbelief over his shoulder at Kurita.

"Nah, it's good that you're fired up, but Akaba will use run force and get ahead of you." Juumonji chimed in instead.

"Hmm? Hold on. Do you have an idea?" Monta questioned, looking at Sena hopefully.

"Uh, well, I was just thinking that even if Akaba-san knows where I'm going already, I could still probably get there before him."

His team mates gave him a bland look.

"Or maybe not?" He added softly, wondering if he was the only one who thought that would work.

"That wouldn't be human." Kuroki commented.

"He's out of his mind." Toganou added and Sena could feel the small amount of confidence he'd had in his plan begin to fade.

"Haha! Maybe you're right!" He rubbed the back of his neck bashfully, wondering if Hiruma thought it was impossible too.

Judging by the way he was laughing, he'd take that as a 'yes'.

"Heh heh heh! It's physically impossible! You're an idiot, fucking shrimp!"

"Go easy on him, Hiruma-kun." Mamori chided from the sidelines and Sena thought he was going to die of embarrassment.

Then Hiruma stopped his cackling, snapped his attention on to Sena and smirked. "Sounds interesting, try it. As many times as it takes."

And that's exactly what Sena did, without much luck since Akaba, secure in the knowledge they couldn't pass, could rush right in to stop him as soon as the play started up.

"_Ten minutes are left on the clock! Bando is running with the wind! Can Deimon make up the thirteen points?!_"

"Sena..." Monta began softly. "Smack me."

Sena reeled backwards, eyes wide. "_What?_"

"Just do it! Smack me hard!" Monta demanded and Sena struck him on the head lightly. Frankly he'd swatted mosquitos with more force, but he couldn't bring himself to actually hit Monta _hard_.

"Like that?"

"Harder!" Monta demanded.

Luckily their other team mates were more than willing to go along with Monta's request, although Juumonji, Kuroki and Toganou _might _have overdone it just a _little_. But Monta recovered quickly.

"I haven't caught a single pass in the second half. Damn the weather! Damn that typhoon! Why now? This game is for the nationals! It's our last chance! We can't let the wind stop us!"

"Monta, the wind is just-"

"Listen up!" Hiruma interrupted, turning to look at the team after Mamori had signed him something from the bench.

"From now on, we're gonna _use_ the wind. We'll turn this game around."

"Typical. You've always got something up your sleeve." Musashi commented, his lips quirking upwards just slightly.

Hiruma smirked, as if to say: 'of course'. "My passes aren't weak enough that a little wind will throw them off course. We'll do a trick play, so it'll only work once! If we fail, everyone gets a lead lobotomy!"

It was quite simple really, Monta ran deep to prepare for a long pass, and the Bando players began to drop back while the Deimon line began pushing forward. Hiruma handed the ball off to Sena, who started making his way to the space that Kurita had opened up in the line. As expected, Akaba along with two other players were just beyond the opening, blocking his path, and Sena swiftly turned around, sending a lateral pass back in Hiruma's direction. With that Hiruma finally threw the ball at Monta, who was already nearly at the end zone.

They were finally closing up the gap.

"It worked!" Sena was so happy he could cry.

"Of course it worked, did you doubt my genius and trickery?" Hiruma asked and Sena quickly shook his head.

"Raimon-kun was open, huh? Interesting." Akaba mused aloud. "He kept running Sena at me, even though he knew it was useless, just so he could complete this pass."

"Heh heh heh! Wrong! 'Useless'? I don't think so!" Hiruma responded. "Get ready, mister MVP Akaba. Sena Kobayakawa's taking you down!"

"Fuu. How interesting." A small smile was playing upon Akaba's lips, as if he and Sena were having a secret conversation. "So by taking off your eye shield and beating me, you think you'll prove that you're the real Eyeshield twenty one?" The smile grew just a fraction more.

Sena opened his mouth to say 'hopefully' or 'half way there, at least' when Hiruma interrupted with his trademark cackling.

"Eyeshield twenty one isn't one man's name, as you well know." He gave Akaba a pointed look and the red head raised an eyebrow, smile completely gone. "It's a one hundred year old tradition at Notre Dame. Only a generation's top runner can wear it. It's the number of an ace! Not to mention, fucking red-eyes, didn't you just start wearing the eyeshield this year? But I guess if you're Tokyo's MVP, you can call yourself the best, huh?"

"Fuu. It's been a lot to live up to, but accolades don't suit my musical sense. However... Kotarou."

"What?" The kicker moodily responded, probably irked that he had only just been invited into the conversation.

"You and I sing different tunes."

"I don't know about tunes, but we _are_ different, if that's what you're getting at."

"But you say you're the best, so I know you'll do anything for the team. I'm the same. That's why, Sena-kun, I can't crown you as Eyeshield twenty one just yet." The small smile was back, secretive as ever.

"Sena! Monta! Musashi! In these last ten minutes we're gonna keep our smart six point lead! The Bando Spiders are going to the nationals!"

"Nuh-uh! The Devil Bats are!" Monta replied with just as much fever.

During the next play Akaba managed to catch the wind-deflected pass and took off down the field, Taki following behind him, unable to catch up.

"_That's Tokyo's MVP for you! He can do anything! What a tight end! And right now, Deimon's tight end is Taki!_"

"Yeah, they're in different worlds." Kuroki agreed with the sentiment.

"A... A ha ha! Wh... What did you say?"

Kotarou kicked next and Bando put another three points on the board, widening the gap to nine points.

During Sena's next run he spotted Taki moving out of the corner of his eye and slowed down for just a split second to let the blonde through to block Akaba.

"Here, Sena! I blocked him! Go up the middle!" He chimed, not having been pushed over just yet, but another second later when Sena was passing by behind him.

"_Oh my goodness! Akaba smashed both Sena _and_ Taki!_"

"That was close!" Sena exclaimed, Taki had held Akaba off for maybe as much as Hiruma had, not much, but it was a solid start considering Akaba could instantaneously push down most people. "Taki-kun, that was close! I was almost through! Let's do it again! As much as it takes!"

"A ha ha... Sena..." Taki looked a little shaken, eyebrows drawing upwards.

"_It's fourth down and Deimon's attempting a fifty yard field goal! Kotarou missed this same kick at the end of the first half. Let's see what Musashi's got._"

Akaba ran forward, intent on putting a stop to Musashi's kick this time around. Taki tried to stop him, but Akaba took care of him once again.

"Taki's down! Pressure the kicker!" Kotarou yelled, but Musashi just kicked as he normally did, bringing the lead back down to six.

"That's impossible... I was gonna be a beautiful star..." Taki murmured to himself, staring at the sky without bothering to get up. "I thought God loved me..."

Musashi moved to stand over him, eyebrows furrowed in mild irritation. "Hey. Do you know why it didn't matter that they got through you? Because I new it would happen. Akaba's better than you in every way, You're a nobody, God's not on your side."

"T-take it easy Musashi." Kurita worriedly looked between the two.

"Shut up at watch, fucking fatty."

"I just wanted to be special." Taki picked himself up off of the ground. "But I don't have God's blessing. I'm just a man. In that case..." Taki produced a hair tie out of nowhere and began raking back his hair with his hands. "I'm gonna go all out and stick it to God himself!" Taki tied his hair back, looking more determined than he ever had, not at all like he was back during the Death March when he'd pull Suzuna around and pretend it was nothing.

It was probably just the shock of seeing Taki be so uncharacteristic, but Sena could have sworn his heart skipped a beat.

Or maybe he was just going crazy.

"Look! My stupid brother looks serious!" Suzuna yelled happily, clearly surprised about the situation as well. "It's like when... He stays up late at night... Working on his video highlights." She finished lamely.

"Oh, I do that too!" Monta replied.

"Not me!"

"A ha ha! Monsieur Akaba! You're guilty of bring out the best in me!" Taki declared, kicking a leg high up into the air.

"_Monsieur?_" Akaba repeated softy.

"Who's that idiot acting like Kotarou?" Juri questioned loudly and Kotarou irately began combing back his hair.

"Don't lump us together!"

"Now he's a _serious_ idiot!" The Huh Huh Brother exclaimed together, Suzuna looked away from the field, abashed.

"Don't think you can knock Akaba around." Musashi spoke up, bringing Taki back down to Earth again. "You're outclassed, Taki. Just accept it. I know a guy with no natural physical advantages, who once lost against nearly everyone. But that guy has used his one talent to fight against top players. I've watched him for years from right up close. You're facing Tokyo's MVP, Hayato Akaba. He's the best player out there. You may be the underdog, but you've still got to fight!"

Taki smiled, a small, restrained smile. "Of course."

By the time a minute and a half was left of the game the gap was still at six, and Taki still had yet to stop Akaba. Kurita tried calling a time out, but they'd already used up all three of them by now, which meant they had to go right into the next play.

Which inevitably meant another Akaba versus Taki showdown.

This time Akaba would be in for a slight surprise when Taki stopped pushing against him. "A ha ha! I told you, monsieur Akaba! I've got you this time!" Taki ducked low and spun around him, having decided to use his flexibility and agility instead of his strength as a change of pace.

Akaba adjusted to it, but he was no longer moving forward, and the runner behind him had no where to go with his path being blocked off like that.

"_No gain! Sakai had nowhere to go! They stopped him cold!_"

"Awesome!"

"Great play, Taki-kun!"

"Great? Me?" Taki perked up a little. "I did something... Useful?" He immediately leapt into the air, practically _sparkling_. "A ha ha! I knew I was a great man! Who needs God? I did it on my ow-" Several pom poms thrown by an irritated Suzuna struck him in quick succession.

"No compliments or he'll revert!" She ordered.

"Sorry." Kurita and Sena chimed before Hiruma called them into a huddle.

"Fucking sideburns will definitely end up kicking it as far back as possible so that we won't have time to score, so you'll be waiting for it!" Hiruma said, his pointing finger centimetres away from Sena's nose. "And when you catch it, you're going to run it all the way back up the field. If you don't..." Hiruma let the threat of a punishment game hang in the air without needing to be said.

Sena nodded quickly. "I'll be right where Kotarou-san planned it to land, Hiruma-san."

As expected Kotarou used the wind to perfectly place his kick right by Deimon's goal line. However, as promised, Sena was right where the kick was supposed to land.

"Yeah! Catch max!" Monta shouted on behalf of Sena when the running back caught the ball, running forward with everyone else to block off the Bando players.

"Stop him! Stop him and we win!" Akaba called loudly.

"Bando's the best kicking team ever! We can't lose now!"

"We're not gonna stop! We're going to the Christmas Bowl! We'll keep going max!"

"A ha ha, monsieur Akaba! I won't try to beat you with strength!" Taki announced as he and Akaba collided. "I'll use my flexibility to contain you!"

Sena ran past, but Akaba had used the run force once again, and he was quickly becoming surrounded, with Akaba ridding himself of Taki and coming up from behind.

"Fuu! After your bursts of speed, Sena-kun, you tire out. Your light speed only lasts a brief moment. So now you're mine. You may get past my team mates, but _I'll_ catch you."

Sena's eyebrows furrowed in determination as he ran on. 'I'm not gonna stop. I don't care if my legs give out. We're going to the Christmas Bowl! I'll make it happen... With my super speed!' He dug his foot into the ground and strongly pushed off like a monster even worse than Cerberus was right on his heels, bypassing the Bando players in a blur of motion.

It was getting hard to breathe, his legs were staring to cramp up, unused to maintaining top speed for this long. At the moment everything was sore, as if all the energy in his body had gone to his legs and left everything else to feel the force of all the times he'd been knocked down today.

'But there's no way I'm gonna stop! Not ever!' He continued at top speed, not slowing down for a second. He could _feel_ Akaba coming up behind him, catching up by running in a straight path while Sena had to keep on dodging other players.

"Don't let up, Sena!" Juumonji ordered from way back where he was.

"Cut 'em to pieces! Murder 'em!" He heard Hiruma yell and Sena, although he wasn't sure if Hiruma was talking to him or to the people who were blocking, pushed his limits like he never had before.

He stepped into the end zone and propelled himself forward, sliding onto the grass before coming to a breathtaking halt.

"Touchdown!"

Sena weakly pushed himself back onto his feet, feeling like his entire body was made of lead but refusing to give in to the urge to lay down and take a breather.

"It's up to you now, Musashi-san." He whispered as he passed the older student, and Musashi nodded gravely before taking his place.

With Musashi's kick the score was now twenty four to twenty three, and there was hardly any time left for Bando to make a comeback.

Sena stumbled as he made his way behind the line and Kurita nervously commented on how he looked faint and suggested he sit the rest of the game out.

"No. I can't, we came all this way together, so I want to stay in until the very end."

"Fine. But if you screw up, you're out, fucking shrimp." Hiruma replied, obviously immensely pleased.

Those last few seconds of the game were more exhausting then Sena could ever remember half a minute being, but he wouldn't have missed it for the world.

"_Game over! Taking third place, the Deimon Devil Bats advance to the Kantou Tournament!_"

Sena knelt down, fist clenched triumphantly as Monta rolled along the ground in joy, stopping only when he hit the goal post.

Sena worriedly made his way to Monta's side, despite how much his muscles were protesting at the effort, and glanced over his shoulder while he was at it, eyes landing on Kotarou.

"We lost by one point. One field goal would've put us on top. If only I had made that fifty yarder at the end of the first half." He clenched his fists. "... Damn it... Damn it! We needed to get to the nationals to show the importance of a kicking game to those guy that betrayed us! Damn it!"

"All the kicker should think about is the ball and his foot." Musashi spoke up, getting straight to the point. "You can't doubt your defenders, nor can you trust them. Your fatal flaw was being distracted by them. It was a kicking game, and _we_ won it. But no one who saw today's game would say kicking is not important."

Kotarou inhaled shakily, muttering another curse under his breath. "You just wait. My kicking will get smarter and next year we'll kick our way to the championship!"

"Yeah. You can count on it." Akaba agreed before the two teams lined up and thanked each other for a good game.

Sena had begun tip toeing away afterwards, intent on making it into the inside of the stadium before he could pass out on the field and make a disgrace of himself and before-

"_Oh Sena_, just where do you think _you're_ going?"

Before Juri could catch him.

Sena turned, rubbing at the back of his neck bashfully. "Oh, well, I was just going to, um..."

"Geez, I'm not mad at you, you don't have to be all freaked out when I'm just talking to you." Juri put her hands on her hips and sighed.

"You're not mad?" He asked unsurely, wondering if this was just a trap so that she could get close to him, grab him by the shoulders and yell '_of course I'm mad!_' in his face.

"I suppose not, you're just lucky you're so cute, that makes it easier to forgive you for keeping this from me for so long."

"Oh."

Well then, thank God for that.

Out of the corner of his eye he could see that Akaba was approaching him, and Juri was looking at the both of them with one of her _extremely pleased_ looks that just proved that what ever she was currently thinking was _completely wrong_.

"Sena-kun."

The brunette turned to face the older boy, freezing up when he saw what Akaba was lightly holding out towards him.

His own eye shield.

"Eyeshield twenty one, that name should belong to you."

"Akaba-san." Sena hesitantly reached out, fingertips skimming over the cool, smooth surface, glancing up at Akaba's face to make sure the other boy was completely serious before taking hold of it. "I... Thank you, so much."

"Fuu. Don't be so humble Sena-kun. You were amazing." Akaba ruffled his hair and leaned in a little.

Juri looked like she could die happy now, how embarrassing.

"So, one confrontation down, one to go. You'll be going all the way to the Christmas Bowl, right?"

Sena's awkwardness melted away and he gave a curt nod. "Yeah."

"Then don't lose to anyone, especially you-know-who, I meant what I said about your title." Akaba smirked lightly.

Sena nodded, and was momentarily distracted by the announcement that the championship game would be starting soon.

His eyes slowly turned to look across the field, and he wasn't even a little surprised to see that Shin was looking directly at him.

'Not to anyone...'

He heard someone walking in his direction and turned again. "Riku..."

"Sena, looks like I get first crack at Oujou's first knight."

If Sena weren't so tired, his eyes might have widened, as it was he was fighting to keep them open and look just as energetic as ever.

"If you're serious about getting to the top, you've really got to want it. You've got to handle all kinds of pressure, not just the weight of the title Eyeshield twenty one."

Sena turned back to Akaba, managing a small smile. "Akaba san, I've never been more serious about something in my entire life."


	110. Chapter 110

FASH: Anyways, I'll be going on vacation soon, but it's for just over a week, and I'll be able to post one or two more chapters before I go.

""-speech

''-thoughts

Sena slowly made his way to the change room, following the sounds of obvious celebration to the best of his ability.

'I will not pass out.' He told himself firmly, even as his steps began to falter. 'Especially not alone in a hallway.' He didn't need any lurking reporters, or the boy from Deimon's school newspaper, taking pictures of him while he was unconscious.

He shuddered at the thought, inwardly cursing when the action took up more of his energy than he thought it would, before descending a small set of stairs.

"Hey Sena!" Suzuna called out to him as she skated closer.

Ah, if Suzuna was there, then he was probably really close to the rest of his team mates, so, in theory, passing out here was completely fine, even though it would be kind of embarrassing. Not as embarrassing as passing out after the game against the Aliens had been, but still pretty mortifying.

"The party's already started! You were amazing today!"

He slumped against her shoulder, dead to the world.

"Hey, Sena?" Suzuna leaned on the brakes to keep herself from rolling away due to the extra weight she was now supporting, which was a little difficult when that meant she had to drag one foot back at a ninety degree angle to do a T-Stop.

"Uh..." She twisted around to the best of her ability, wondering if the partying group would notice if she called for a little help.

Thankfully it turned out there was no need for that.

"Uwah! What's with that awkward looking hug?" A certain tall blonde questioned as he made his way down the hall, Kakei following after him slowly.

"Sena's asleep." And her leg was starting to feel weird for braking so long. "Would you mind supporting him for a bit before we both fall over?"

"Sure!" Mizumachi strolled forward and hefted Sena up over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

"Mizumachi, be more careful with him." Kakei chided lightly, quickening his pace just a little to stand beside his friend.

"Hm? Did you _want_ me to carry him bridal style, or did you want to hold him?" Mizumachi asked in a teasing voice and Kakei crossed his arms.

"I didn't say that, just be more cautious."

"Oh?" Mizumachi shifted Sena down a little so that blood wouldn't rush to his head, the brunette's forehead now resting on his shoulder. "He's really tuckered out from the game though. Does he pass out often, or is he just dead tired from going up against that other Eyeshield guy?"

"Well, it's the first time I've seen him pass out." Suzuna answered slowly, eyes flickering from Kakei to Mizumachi in an inquisitive fashion. "Why did you guys come down here anyways?"

"To congratulate the kid here of course!" Mizumachi jerked his head lightly towards Sena. "That run he did near the end was awesome, and he seems like the type who needs to be told directly that they've done something awesome in order to believe it."

"Well, that's pretty sweet of you."

"I'm a pretty sweet guy, right Kakei-_chan_?"

"I know people who are sweeter." Kakei answered gruffly.

"Oh, you wound me." The blonde playfully winked in his friend's direction. "But I guess when it comes to being sweet, I've got nothing on Sena, huh?"

Suzuna rose her head to nod in agreement, but froze briefly before whipping her head in the direction Mizumachi and Kakei had come from.

"Hey, you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine..." She just momentarily had the distinct feeling they were being watched. Maybe some reporters had hidden themselves around the corner? "Anyways, Sena will probably be really embarrassed if he finds out that you guys know he passed out after the game, so could you keep quiet about it?"

"Our lips are sealed, right Mizumachi?"

"Aw, I was hoping to tease him about it later though... Just kidding!" Mizumachi grinned brightly. "So, did you want to take Sena back now?"

Suzuna nodded, taking one of Sena's arms and wrapping it around her shoulders before Mizumachi set him down completely. "Thanks for the help." She then opened the door and slipped into the change room, once she was out of sight Kakei turned to Mizumachi, frowning.

"Mizumachi, did you get the feeling we were being watched just a second ago?"

"Hm? Well, the hair at the back of my neck stood up, but I think that's because Sena was breathing on me, I'm ticklish."

"Ticklish, huh?" Kakei repeated dryly.

"Yeah, ticklish."

Several minutes later, inside the change room, Sena's eyes fluttered open just a sliver when he felt a light sprinkling of cold liquid fall on him.

'Rain...?'

"So, who's going to take the fucking shrimp home?"

"Hiruma-kun, would it kill you to call Sena by his name?"

"Why don't you answer my question before before asking another?"

Sena shut his eyes again, blocking out the sound of Hiruma and Mamori's bickering and trying to drift back to sleep.

Then _someone _emptied what must have been an _entire barrel_ of cold water over him.

He woke back up instantly, sputtering and coughing for a solid minute before he could breathe normally.

"Was that really necessary?"

"Yes. I'm pretty sure he doesn't want anyone to see him being carried away, unconscious."

Sena grabbed a small towel and began drying his face, half smiling at the argument happening beside him.

"We could have woken him up in a less shocking way." Mamori said, crossing her arms defiantly.

"I'm okay Mamori-neechan, although I'm still a little tired." Sena spoke up, roughly drying his hair.

Mamori uncrossed her arms and, after sending Hiruma a chiding look that the blonde completely ignored, began making her way out of the change room.

"Get changed, I'm taking you home so you can get some proper rest."

Sena nodded, slowly stripping out of his sopping wet uniform and changing into his dry clothes, hands on auto pilot.

During the trip home Mamori thankfully didn't bombard him with any questions, Sena didn't know how he'd answer when he was half asleep anyways, and her parting promise was to tell him the results of the championship when she saw him first thing in the morning.

All in all, it wasn't that bad.

'But,' he thought as he looked at his front door tiredly. 'This might be a little difficult.'

He opened the door, mentally preparing himself for whatever reaction his mother and father, but mostly his mother, might have had upon finding out just what he'd been doing instead of being secretary to the team.

"_Oh!_ My little boy is a _star!_"

His mother rushed at him and it took a great amount of willpower to curb his instincts to dodge the sudden embrace he was receiving.

Well, at least his mother wasn't mad, in fact she seemed pretty ecstatic.

He felt a hand lightly ruffle his hair and glanced up to see his father sending a small smile his way.

"Good game, Sena."

"Yes! _Even though playing in that weather was probably dangerous_, it was a very good game!" His mother added before cupping his face in her hands and beaming down at him. "And now I can finally meet all your friends from your team! You'll have to invite them over soon, _very soon_." There was a strange glint in her eyes, she was probably a little irritated that Sena had been putting this off for so long. "Unless of course, you want me to go to your award ceremony, hop onto the field when everything is over and introduce myself to them without you acting as the mediator."

Sena threw his father a helpless look and the man caved. "Dear, if you keep acting like that, you're just giving Sena more reasons to _not _introduce his friends to you."

She pulled away and pouted. "This is perfectly normal motherly behaviour."

Both her son and husband gave her a skeptic look.

"It is!"

"... Wait, how did you even know about the award ceremony?" Maybe she'd just guessed that there would be one?

"Hiruma-kun called to tell me about it, he said you might be too bashful to invite us to watch on your own. My, what a nice upperclassman you have."

Sena quickly nodded in agreement, trying to keep a neutral face.

Hiruma was way too good at misleading people.

"Anyways, I'm going to go up to my room and pass out now, I'll see you in the morning."

"Pass out?" He mother repeated worriedly, following him to the stairs. "What do you mean by that?"

"I'm sure he's just tired, let him get some rest." His father replied and Sena threw a grateful look over his shoulder as he reached his room before stumbling towards his bed and lying down, not even bothering to shut the door behind him.

He woke up horridly early the next day, legs aching and still feeling a little exhausted, but otherwise fairly content.

He wasn't sure what he was supposed to expect when he got to school though, maybe Sawaka from the school's newspaper would huffily question him and take covert pictures of him.

'That would be rather creepy... Stalker-ish really...'

But then again, Agon had scared Sawaka off last time, and Agon could be pretty damn intimidating even when he wasn't putting any effort into it.

Okay, so that was one person to cross off the might-stalk-me-around list, that left...

The captains of every sports team where his speed could be considered a weapon...

... That was a lot of sports teams.

He crawled out of bed to take a long, hot shower before slowly getting ready for school.

'I hope I don't get cornered, I don't think I have it in me to avoid getting caught all day.'

He left earlier than he normally would ever consider going, hoping to arrive at the safety of his classroom before any team captains could whisk him away and try to convince him to play for them. He was nearly at the school gates when he heard a voice calling out to him and he turned to see Mamori jogging to catch up.

"Good morning Mamori-neechan."

"Sena..." Mamori caught up to him and rose a hand, lightly swatting his back. "You played very well yesterday, good job!"

Sena was silent for a moment, allowing the compliment to soak in. "Th-thank you..."

"Oh, and you want to know what happened during the championship game, right?"

"Yes! Who won?"

"The White Knights. It seems that due to the knee tackle Tetsuma-kun used against Monta after the game he was given a one game suspension, and without him Riku-kun became Seibu's prime weapon, but..."

"Shin-san was too much for him to handle by himself, running isn't really Seibu's forte."

"But they might meet up again during the Kantou Tournament, and who knows who'll win then?"

"A team more focussed on offence like us, or one focussed on defence?" Sena tapped at his chin in thought as they entered the school building, stopping at their shoe lockers for a moment.

"Sena... I know you might be tired of hearing this sort of thing by now..." Mamori wrapped an arm around his shoulder, pulling him into a half-hug. "But I'm really proud of you, for working so hard on something, even though it must have been really difficult at times."

Sena awkwardly returned the embrace, flushing a little from the praise.

They parted ways soon after, Sena heading towards his empty classroom and resting his head on his folded arms until his classmates began streaming in, a lot of them offering congratulations on the victory against Bando which Sena accepted with a warm smile.

The morning classes went off without a hitch, although Sena would have to be blind to not notice the multiple stares he was on the receiving end of, during lunch Juumonji sat next to him, glaring at anyone who looked like they wanted to approach the brunette, as if he were some sort of guard dog, and the afternoon classes were relatively peaceful.

Additionally, so far he hadn't been bothered by any other team captains, so maybe his identity wasn't as big of a deal as he thought it was.

When the final bell rang he was putting his text books in his bag when Juumonji stopped beside his desk.

"So, are you ready?"

Sena threw the blonde a confused look. "... Ready? For what, exactly?"

Juumonji rose an eyebrow. "Weren't you paying attention in homeroom the last couple of days before the weekend?"

"Not really, no." Sena replied bluntly, figuring there was no use in trying to hide the fact.

"And you probably haven't been paying attention to the signs posted up in the hallways either."

"Signs?"

"For the culture festival, the one that's going to be happening this week."

"This week?"

Juumonji sighed in exasperation, although he seemed to be more amused than anything else, if the small smile he was wearing was any indication.

"Yes, this week, do you even remember what you voted to do during homeroom last week?"

"Uh..."

"Look at those two, getting along so well." Kuroki practically cooed as he walked by and Juumonji's cheeks instantly flared up.

"Spring has come, even though it's autumn." Toganou solemnly agreed, nodding his head.

"It's not like that." Juumonji hastily objected before following the pair to the door. "See you later Sena!"

"Bye..." Sena pursed his lips together.

'Now that I think about it... What _are_ we doing for the culture fest? I voted for _something_, but I can't remember what.'

"Sena, what are ya looking all pensive for dude?" Monta asked as he stepped into the classroom and Sena quickly finished putting away his text books.

"Oh nothing, just wondering what my class is doing for the culture festival this week."

"What, it's this week?! Unexpected max! I thought it was gonna happen next week!"

"So you don't know what your class is doing either?" Sena questioned as they left the classroom and headed towards the shoe lockers, Monta nodded.

"Who has time to think about stuff like that when games are coming up?"

They exited the building and Sena breathed a sigh of relief. His first day at school after unveiling his secret identity had gone well.

'Hiruma-san must have something to do with this peaceful atmosphere, I'll have to thank him for scaring the other captains away later... Even though that's an odd thing to thank someone for...'

But the peaceful atmosphere shattered completely when Sena heard the rumbling sound of multiple people running in what seemed to be _his direction_. He took several steps back when he saw that the captains of Deimon's various sport teams caught sight of him. Apparently they all had decided to wait until after school to confront him, lulling him into a false sense of security during the day so that he didn't leave school ASAP.

"Join the basketball team!"

"No! The soccer team!"

'Oh dear...' He opened his mouth to softly protest that football was the only sport he really wanted to play, but fell silent when he found himself being shielded by an unlikely source.

"Stand back! Back! No touching!" Suzuna demanded loudly, somehow managing to stop everyone in their tracks. "We'll talk after Kantou! Unless of course..." The glasses Suzuna had on flashed dangerously. "You want to ask Yo-nii if you can-"

The sportsmen began to reluctantly move away, some of them carefully looking around to make sure a certain second year didn't pounce on them for trying to lure Sena onto another team.

"But... I don't want to talk after Kantou." Sena mumbled under his breath once they had left the vicinity.

"What's with that outfit, Suzuna?" Monta asked with a pensive look, carefully taking in her fake glasses and formal looking attire. Although the look was somewhat ruined by the fact she still had her skates and knee-pads on.

"I'm Sena's agent!"

"A-agent? Do I really need one of those?"

"Of course you do, otherwise the guys from the other sports teams will bother you all the time, right? Also, as your agent I've got to make sure you're always looking your best."

"My best?" Sena questioned with a frown. "But it's not like I want to look fashionable, I'm not aiming to be popular, I just want to play football."

"But you've shown your face and announced that you're Eyeshield twenty one. Even if a lot of the crazy rumours going around about your true identity were proven _very wrong_, you've got to look the part for award ceremonies and stuff!"

"Look the part?" Monta repeated dubiously. "So you're saying Sena needs to look like an ace even when he's not on the field?"

"Exactly! And ace's don't go around in their school uniform all the time! They need some cool clothes! Which is why we're going shopping!"

'Shin-san doesn't wear 'cool clothes', he just wears whatever's most appropriate.' Sena thought to himself before an idea struck him. "Wait a minute! Even for award ceremonies, I just need to show up in my football uniform, right?"

Suzuna frowned. "Where's the fun in that?"

Keeping his dignity sounded pretty fun to him... But it didn't look like Suzuna would take 'no' for an answer...

"Besides," she continued in a more professional sounding voice. "When they do the drawings for the Kantou Tournament match-ups there might be photographers around, it's for the best to look your best during that sort of situation."

"Fine, I'll go with you, but I can't stay for too long, my father and I need to mentally prepare my mother for the award ceremony tomorrow."

"Mentally prepare?" Suzuna repeated, eyebrows raising curiously.

"Just as a safety precaution." Sena replied as if it were an everyday thing, hoping that by acting natural it wouldn't attract Suzuna's interest.

"Oh yeah? Your mom sounds fun!" Suzuna covertly glanced in Monta's direction. "Mon Mon, you can come shopping too!"

"... Are you trying to tell me something about the way I dress?"

"Ah, so you caught on to it, did you?"

The two began lightly bickering and Sena wondered if he could somehow escape without them noticing when his cell phone began to ring, causing both Suzuna and Monta to glance in his direction.

It looked like he wasn't going to manage getting out of this. He sighed and put his phone against his ear.

"Hello?"

"Alright, you promised to hang out before the Kantou Tournament, so come on over to my house." Juri chimed into the mouthpiece.

"Sorry Julie-neechan, but I've already got plans to go to the mall with Suzuna and Monta today."

"What? You were going to go clothes shopping without me?!"

"Well, I just found out about it."

"I'm coming too! I'm heading over to your house, don't you dare leave for the mall before I get there!" Juri demanded.

Suddenly Sena was assaulted with horrible visions of a certain green sun-dress, hair clips and all the makeup that Juri had forced him to wear the first time he'd met her. She had promised to never dress him up like a girl again, but somehow that didn't make Sena any less nervous.

"Julie-neechan, I really-" He stopped when he heard the dial tone, belatedly realizing that Juri had hung up on him.

He wondered if he was doomed.

Monta and Suzuna were giving him a strange look and Sena hastily explained the situation to them before they headed to his house.

After entering his humble abode he lead them into the living room, inwardly praying that Juri wouldn't take too long to arrive.

They had just settled down on the couches when Sena's mother stepped in, a large smile growing on her face when she spotted the three teens.

"Hey mom, these are two of my good friends, Monta and Suzuna." Sena made a vague motion towards the other two, both of whom waved at his mother politely.

"I remember meeting you, Monta-kun, just after the summer break, but who might you be? Are you in Sena's class?" His mother asked excitedly, her attention locking onto Suzuna almost instantly.

Sena pursed his lips for a moment, puzzled at his mother's strange behaviour.

'Oh, this is the first time I've brought a girl home that mom doesn't already know.' At least now her oddly curious behaviour made sense.

"I'm Taki Suzuna, I go to a different school than your son, but I'm the head cheerleader for the football team." Suzuna brightly introduced herself.

"We'll just be waiting here until Julie-neechan comes over, then we're going to the mall."

"You're going shopping with friends? How teenager-like of you!"

Sena felt his cheeks go pink. "Well, I am a teenager after all."

"Why don't you come into the kitchen with me to make you're friends some tea before Juri-chan gets here?"

"Okay..." Sena threw a quick look at Suzuna and Monta before standing up and following his mother into the kitchen. Once there his mother prepared the kettle while he reached into the cupboard to grab the teacups.

"She's cute, she's definitely a keeper."

Sena nearly dropped a cup and whipped around to face his mother, shocked. "Eh?"

"Don't let your guard down, or someone from her own school might steal her away."

"Mom, we're friends, I don't like Suzuna the way you think I do."

"Friends _indeed_, then why do you address her by her given name?"

"She doesn't like being associated with her brother most of the time, so she won't let me call her by her family name, and she dislike's it when I add an honorific to her name."

"Oh?" His mother gave him a large smile, completely unconvinced. "Sounds to me like you're just making up excuses because you're _embarrassed_."

Sena sighed and gave up on trying to convince her of the truth, by now certain that it would be a waste of time.

Sure Suzuna was pretty, nice, and had an energetic sort of personality that helped her make lots of friends, but Sena didn't think he could ever find himself romantically connected to her.

In fact, quite frankly, he didn't think he could have that sort of connection with any girl in general. In his, _admittedly limited_, experience with females, they either ignored him or thought of him in as a brother. On the flip side of things; he felt more comfortable around guys, and even though Juumonji's kisses had startled him he hadn't felt at all disturbed by them.

Not that he could tell _his mother_ that he didn't mind getting kissed by guys, especially when she had an oddly happy look on her face that made Sena think that she was calculating when she'd have her first grandchild.

Juri arrived not too long after the tea had been prepared, thankfully whisking the trio away before Sena's mom could ask whatever embarrassing questions she was coming up with to ask Suzuna.

Like: "What do you think about my son? He's good husband material, isn't he?"

But being saved from one awkward situation and thrown into another wasn't quite the redemption he had been hoping for.

Currently Suzuna was picking out clothes that looked _way_ too big for him, and Juri seemed to catch on to whatever scheme the younger girl was plotting, because she was picking out a bunch of accessories that Sena normally wouldn't wear.

He had momentarily contemplated asking whether they were taking this seriously, but the looks on their faces had already proven that they weren't. This point was heavily reinforced after he'd changed into the first outfit they'd chosen for him.

He looked like a scrawny juvenile delinquent, made even more scrawny by the fact the clothes completely hung off of him.

"Ridiculous max!" Monta exclaimed, clutching at his sides, while Juri hid her smile behind her hand.

"I wanted him to look tough." Suzuna was quivering, her hands over her mouth to try and keep in her laughter. "I guess it didn't work."

Sena began taking off the accessories before heading back towards the change rooms. "Don't make fun of me... Okay?"

"Don't ask! Sound strong! Say it like an order!" Suzuna commanded and Sena gave her a dry look.

"I'm not going to get huffy about something like this, I've been through worse." Much worse, and as long as they stayed away from the girl's section, he'd be fine.

Juri giggled behind her hand and tried to mask it with a cough when everyone looked her way.

"I'll be out in a minute, and don't pick out any more clothes for me without my consent." Sena said before shutting the door behind him.

"Suzuna-chan, why don't you help find something for Monta-kun to wear, and I'll handle Sena's clothing?"

"Okay! Come on Mon Mon, let's find you something classy." Suzuna grabbed his hand and began dragging the reluctant boy away.

Somehow, looking for clothes _alone with Juri_ of all people didn't seem like a great idea, but by the time Sena came out of the dressing room Suzuna and Monta had already disappeared somewhere.

"It's just me and you, Sena." She grinned widely before turning around, Sena following her after leaving the unwanted clothes on a rack near the front of the dressing rooms' entrance.

"Looks like they're getting ready for cooler weather." Juri commented as she trailed a hand across a table of knit scarves, stopping as she came to a light, robin's egg blue one.

"Oh, this is a nice scarf." She held it up next to his face, scrutinizing the colour. "But it doesn't go well with your lightly tanned skin." Juri set the scarf down and made her way towards a rack of shirts, Sena trailing dutifully after her.

"Maybe. No. No. Ew, no. Maybe. Maybe..." She paused for a moment and smiled widely before taking a shirt off of the rack and nearly throwing it at him. "Yes! Try this on!"

Sena grasped onto the hanger and looked down at the green sweater. Normally he might have tried it on just to appease Juri's frenzied curiosity, but the shade of this sweater was just a little...

"Ah, doesn't it bring back memories?" Juri asked, clasping her hands together dramatically.

A little too close to the shade of the sun-dress that Juri had dressed him up in when they had first met.

"More like nightmares." Sena replied before carefully putting the sweated back on the rack.

"Oh, it wasn't that bad."

"Kotarou-san seemed to think it was pretty bad."

"Yes, well, boys don't understand that sort of thing."

"Somehow, I sense that your reasoning is flawed." Sena teasingly answered back as Juri began to once again closely inspect the shirts.

"Flawed? It isn't flawed, and no matter what Kotarou says, I refuse to believe that I scarred you for life because of it. Remember, I did see you all dolled up because Hiruma-kun wanted you to spy on a team or something like that. If you were so against it, you could have said no." Juri's eyebrows furrowed, making her look as though she had trouble believing her own words.

"Julie-neechan, have _you_ ever tried saying _no_ to Hiruma-san? He can be pretty _persuasive_ when he wants."

"Point taken. Now let's drop this subject to find you some sexy masculine clothes."

Sena jerkily turned to face the girl, eyes wide.

"_Sexy?_"


	111. Chapter 111

FASH: Alright, my vacation time is here, so it'll probably be about two weeks before I get the next chapter up, but I'll start thinking about that Shin/Sena that I promised to write. Sorry this is shorter than usual, I've been a bit busy as of late, and if I extended it much longer I think it may have ended up as an unwanted cliffhanger.

""-speech

''-thoughts

"What? If we're going to get you some new clothes, we may as well get you something that you look attractive in. Most of your casual clothes are really frumpy."

"Okay, attractive I can handle, but you're pushing it mentioning this _sexy_ business."

Juri's lips quirked and she cocked an eyebrow. "_Sexy business_, eh? That sounds a little-"

"You know what I meant, don't go taking things the wrong way." Sena quickly cut in before Juri could say anything too embarrassing.

"Goodness, what a spoilsport you are, taking away my fun." She sighed dramatically before moving on to the next rack of shirts, a pensive look on her face as she began her examination.

"Yes, well, somebody's got to do it, otherwise you'd have too much fun, and we _certainly_ can't have that." Sena jokingly answered as he half-heartedly skimmed through the clothing.

He wished Monta hadn't been dragged off, guys seemed easier to shop with than girls.

'Julie-neechan is getting way too into this.'

If she stared any harder at the shirt she was currently holding, it was going to burst into flames.

"Sena, come over here for a second, I need to compare."

Sena obliged and stood still as Juri held up two tartan patterned shirts up to his chest, humming under her breath as she glanced between them.

'This is gonna take a while.'

After fretting over several more tops and pairs of pants they finally settled on one outfit, although Juri kept going on about how it was such a shame that he was finally going shopping for some nice clothes but refused to buy any more than two articles of clothing.

Sena ignored it for the most part though, and Juri quieted down with a sigh when she realized everything she was saying wasn't getting through to him.

A pushover, Sena was not.

They found Suzuna and Monta soon after and Sena was quick to save his friend from the doom Suzuna had been about to thrust upon him by suggesting they all get something to eat.

The group made their way to the mall's food court and ordered themselves their supper before sitting down at a table, the boys on one side, the girls on another.

"Sena, what did you end up getting?" Suzuna asked as she stared at Sena's single bag curiously.

"A shirt and pants."

"... You know that doesn't really help me visualize anything, right?"

"Take a look for yourself then." Sena lifted the bag from it's place beside him.

"Don't mind if I do!" Suzuna reached over and grabbed it, looking inside curiously.

"Oh, very nice, _very nice_."

Juri nodded in agreement. "I wanted to convince him to get more button up shirts like that, but he refused. I saw these really nice tartan patterned ones though."

"Aw, he would have looked great it those!"

Sena and Monta shared a dry look before setting their attention on their food.

Several minutes later the girls had stopped talking about clothing and had begun conversing in low tones, and every once in a while they'd send a brief, almost unnoticeable, look in Sena's direction.

"Dude, they seem unnaturally happy for some reason." Monta whispered to him under his breath and Sena slowly nodded. He had a vague idea of what they could possibly be talking about, which is exactly why he didn't press the matter.

Monta thankfully let the subject drop without asking the girls what they were whispering about, and the two boys finished eating in peaceful silence as the girls across from them continued on in their hushed voices.

After they all finished eating, Juri and Suzuna taking a considerable time longer than Monta and Sena due to their chatting, they decided it was time to go their separate ways, but not before the girls somehow managed to make Sena promise to go shopping with them again sometime.

When he finally arrived home for the day Sena quickly entered the front door and slipped off his shoes, smiling when Pitt softly pattered towards him. He crouched down, setting his bag beside him, to give her a scratch behind the ears, but instead of stopping in front of him she made a beeline for his bag, starting to crawl inside curiously.

"Oh no, that's not for you Pitt." Sena quickly lifted her up into his arms, certain that if he got cat hair all over his new clothes Juri and Suzuna would just _instinctively_ _know_ and come over to tell him the importance of keeping them clean.

Actually that seemed more like Hiruma's omnipresent capabilities, but he still wouldn't put it past them.

He stood up, Pitt in one arm, his bag slung over his other, and began making his way towards his room.

Before he even made it to the stairs his mother poked her head out of the living room, grinning widely.

"Did you have fun shopping?"

"Yeah, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be."

Then again, considering all the things he'd been worried about, his time in the mall had been almost heavenly compared to his worst-case-scenario. Juri and Suzuna hadn't even pointed out any girly accessories to him, and although their hushed conversation might have set him a little on edge, at least he wasn't completely certain of what they were talking about.

'But will the next time I go shopping with them be like this?' Sena pursed his lips and decided to not think about it too hard.

After putting his clothes away and paying Pitt all the attention she felt she deserved he finished up homework and lazed around his room before deciding it was high time to go to sleep.

He woke up early the next morning, figuring the best way to avoid any team captains that decided not to heed what his 'agent' said would be to get to school extremely early.

After taking a quick shower he silently crept down to the kitchen and was about to start making himself some breakfast when a small sheet of paper, stationed innocently on the otherwise spotless kitchen table, caught his eye.

Sena stared at the piece of paper dubiously before picking it up, eyebrows drawing upwards when he read through a list of beverages and snacks that his mother wouldn't normally buy unless it was for a special occasion.

Like a party of some sort.

'Did she want me to invite everyone over tonight? But it's a school night, and she never asked me to invite people over for today.'

Did that mean she wanted to invite them over _herself? _

'Not on my watch.' He'd have to extend the invitation to everyone right after school, as a precautionary measure in case his mother thought he was taking too long, because _she would_ ask them over herself if she had to. She'd been waiting for this for a long time and there was no way she'd let her very limited acquaintance with his friends extend much longer.

He ended up leaving for school before either of his parents woke up and, upon reaching the grounds, headed for the clubhouse.

He wasn't entirely surprised when he entered the building and saw Hiruma typing away on his laptop, although his more concentrated than usual expression was an intriguing development.

Sena curiously peered over the blonde's shoulder, trying to get a good look at what he was typing up.

'I, the undersigned, solemnly swear that my team and I, upon the aftermath of the Kantou tournament, will fully co-operate... Co-operate? Why does he need people's co-operation?!'

He tore his eyes away from the screen, unsure if he wanted to read anymore.

"What are you doing, Hiruma-san?"

"Writing up a contract, what else?" The blonde replied with ease and Sena bit his lip to keep himself from questioning why Hiruma needed to write up a contract in the first place.

Hiruma seemed to realize that he was feeling uneasy though, and he rolled his eyes dramatically. "It's not like I was going to make them sign it in their blood or anything ridiculously occult like that. That's for fun, this is business."

"Oh."

Should he be relieved that Hiruma was just typing up a normal agreement, or nervous about the way he seemed to insinuate he made people take blood pacts for fun?

Hiruma turned and gave him a sharp look, as if he knew exactly what was going through Sena's mind at the moment.

"What's your class doing for the culture festival?" Sena asked quickly, trying to lighten the mood by brining attention away from the document.

"Nothing that I'm going to bother being a part of, that's for sure."

"Oh? Are they doing something like a maid cafe?" Hiruma definitely wouldn't take part in something like that, unless it was to gather more blackmail.

"No. I've got a bunch of drama geeks in my class, they're putting on some sort of production."

"Really? Did they want to assign you a part?" 'A mad scientist, an evil overlord, the phantom of the opera perhaps?'

Hiruma frowned and turned his attention back to his laptop, refusing to answer.

'Oh, they so _did_ assign him a part before he made it clear he wouldn't participate.'

He was going to have to figure out what play his class was doing and, by process of elimination, figure out which part they had wanted Hiruma to do.

"Is your mother excited for today?" The blonde asked suddenly, pausing Sena's plans of discovery midway.

"I think you already know the answer to that, Hiruma-san."

"Humour me."

"Well, my ever so helpful and caring _sempai_, she's been planning to round the team up after the award ceremony, whether they like it or not, and I only found that out because I got up before her today and she had left her shopping list out on the kitchen counter."

"Really? But I was planning for everyone to run one hundred laps after the ceremony." Hiruma said in all seriousness. "Although I suppose we could make up for it if everyone ran from the stadium to your house."

"Hopefully my mom won't mind the sight of a bunch of sweaty young men... Wait a minute, that came out a bit wrong."

"So in the end you're just going to let her charge onto the field and drag everyone away?" Hiruma questioned with a smirk, Sena quickly shook his head.

"No way! I'm going to ask everyone before the ceremony starts if they want to come over to my house."

"Too bad, it would have been amusing to see what she'd do if you didn't ask everyone beforehand."

"Amusing isn't exactly what I would-" Sena stopped as the door to the clubhouse opened and Mamori strolled in, giving the to of them a curious glance when they both turned to look at her.

"Am I interrupting something?" She asked slowly and Sena quickly stepped away from the blonde, shaking his head.

"Nope, in fact I was just going to head to class and finish up some homework." He left the clubhouse, tip toeing around and trying to keep a low profile.

Hiruma went back to typing, absentmindedly chomping down on a piece of gum.

"Oh, are you starting to write up those contracts you were talking about?" Mamori asked as she stepped forward, taking Sena's previous position of staring over his shoulder.

"So what is I am?"

"Let me read over them before you print them off and send them out, I want to make sure there aren't any hidden threats in there."

"Actually, all my threats are out in the open, so there's no need for you to look for hidden ones."

Mamori huffed, more in exasperation than actual anger, and turned away.

School for Sena was a lot like it had been the previous day. He ignored the looks he was getting from the girls in his class during the morning classes, at lunch Juumonji sat with him once again and became a make-shift shield, even though Kuroki and Toganou teased him about it, and the afternoon classes were a repeat of the morning classes. After school Sena rushed to the clubhouse, where everyone was meeting before they all left for the award ceremony, and Hiruma reminded them to 'turn their damn cellphones off'.

"But before we leave, there's something Sena wants to ask you all, right, fucking shrimp?" Hiruma cocked an eyebrow, smirking widely as Sena was thrust into the spotlight without preparation.

"Well, uh, that is, I wanted to ask you all if you, you know-"

"God, this is almost too painful to watch." Hiruma murmured under his breath and Sena shot a slightly affronted look in his direction before continuing on.

"Did you all want to come to my house after the ceremony? My mother wants to meet you."

"... Why does your mom want to meet us?" Kuroki asked, eyes narrowed in mock-suspicion. "Is it because-"

"Pay no attention to this guy Sena," Juumonji cut in, roughly ruffling Kuroki's hair. "We'd love to go."

Kuroki ducked away from Juumonji's hand and together with Toganou gave the blonde a knowing look.

"Yeah, sounds fun, you were asleep during our little celebration in the change room after all, until Hiruma woke you up."

"Alright, party max!"

Well, that hadn't been too hard, except for the first bit.

Maybe this party idea wasn't such a bad plan after all.

"Oh, but we have to run to my house, because Hiruma-san wanted to make us run laps after the ceremony."

"... To your house... From the stadium?" Yukimitsu asked slowly, as if he were mentally calculating the distance.

"A ha ha! That distance is just a trifle to someone like me!"

Kuroki threw a dry glare in Taki's direction. "If this idiot can do it, so can we."

"And now that this business has been settled, let's blow this popsicle stand!" Hiruma ordered in a tone of voice that implied he'd start shooting if they didn't get a move on. Everyone wisely _didn't_ take their time exiting the clubhouse.

"So, does your mom actually want to meet everyone, or did you just add that on at the end because you felt awkward?" Monta asked on the way to the stadium and Sena gave him a weak smile.

"You remember how happy my mom was to meet you and Hiruma-san, right?"

"Oh yeah, that day's engraved in my memory, but mostly because Hiruma-san is scary max when he's being nice." Monta took a moment to shudder at the recollection. "But I suppose that by bringing that up you mean your mom really does want to meet the whole team?"

Sena's smile widened just a little. "More than you can imagine."

The award ceremony was, as one might expect, amazing. Seeing all the teams on the field again reminded Sena of the opening ceremony, how much time had passed, and how much they'd all improved, since the beginning of the Autumn Tournament.

His stood on the field in line with his team mates, unable to keep the warm, sweet feeling of pride at bay knowing that, of all the teams that currently surrounded them, they were third best.

'And in the Kantou Tournament, we _will _be the best.'


	112. Chapter 112

FASH: Alright, I'm finally back and ready to write up a storm! My plan for the Shin/Sena fic I promised makes me giddy, and the first chapter of that should be finished by tomorrow. Also, I haven't seen episode 99 in a long time, and I can't find it online anymore, so I tweaked the culture fest. I think it's more fun this way anyways.

""-speech

''-thoughts

It wasn't long before the tournament's top eleven players started being announced, compromising of a fairly predictable line-up; the offensive line being Kurita, the receivers being Sakuraba and Tetsuma and other such outstanding players. He'd found himself in a mild state of shock when his own name was called out, but he thankfully got over it before anyone could comment on his utterly gobsmacked state, and he swore he could hear his mother cheering for him louder than any of the other players around him.

Shin had managed to get the MVP award, no surprise there, and the laptop he was given, a gift from the tournament's sponsor, was promptly snapped in half seconds after he took hold of it.

Sena had to clasp a hand over his mouth to keep from laughing out loud.

Once the ceremony was over Sena sneaked towards the stands to tell his mother that the team would be jogging to their house to make up for lost practice time, and while she seemed a little depressed that they wouldn't arrive faster she vowed to have everything ready by the time they came over.

The run home was more fun than Sena had expected, with Hiruma calling out routes and shooting at them if anyone got it wrong, but maybe he only thought so because he knew as soon as Hiruma saw his mother his personality would do a complete one eighty.

As fun as it would be to see everyone else's reaction to _Innocent Hiruma _for a sustained period of time, it was still going to creep him out a little.

By the time they had reached his house everyone was in varying degrees of breathlessness, and most of the group seemed to pause for several seconds just before entering the door to catch their breath, as if to make it look as though running from the stadium was an easy task.

Drawn over by the noise and likely wanting some attention from her favourite human; Pitt crept forward, gazing up at the crowd with a distinct who-are-these-unworthy-creatures look on her face.

"Ah, watch out, she doesn't like people much, and she might gnaw on you a little if you get too close."

But against all odds Pitt rubbed up against Toganou's leg, mewling and demanding attention.

"Wow, did you roll in cat-nip on your way here by any chance?" Sena asked as Toganou stepped away from the cat, only for Pitt to follow him.

"Why would I do something like that? Go away cat." He flicked his hand in a dismissive gesture. "Shoo."

Pitt stuck to his leg like glue.

"Maybe she likes your mellow personality? You're such a calming presence Toga." Kuroki said with a grin, lightly jabbing Toganou's side with his elbow.

Pitt, apparently finding herself to be too good to be around Kuroki despite the added bonus of Toganou, slowly sauntered back from whence she came.

"She's pretty haughty."

"She's a cat, all cats are like that."

Seconds after Pitt disappeared his mother began practically skipping into view, pausing before Sena with a wide smile.

"Hey mom, this is, well, everyone." Sena made a vague gestured to the group.

"Good evening, Kobayakawa-san." Hiruma greeted on behalf of everyone in his 'model student' voice, and over half the team sent a horrified look in his direction.

"Hiruma-kun, it's so nice to see you again, thank you so much for taking care of Sena during his club activities." She bowed her head at him gratefully.

"Oh, it's no problem at all." Hiruma bowed back, further cementing people's beliefs that he had been possessed.

Thankfully his mother didn't seem to notice the rising panic levels and just smiled brightly at everyone as Sena introduced them to her. She was almost on the verge of tears by the time Sena was finished, overjoyed that he had been able to make so many friends on his own.

'I wonder what her reaction would be if she knew I had more friends on other teams too.'

"Oh! Let me get the photo albums!" She skipped off and Sena froze, eyes widening in horror.

"Mom, no!"

But it was too late, she was already at the self where all their family albums were, taking out Sena's childhood album purposefully slow.

Hiruma had a highly amused look on his face, and Sena guessed that if his mother hadn't been within hearing range, he would have started cackling.

"Oh don't worry Sena, I'll skip over the more embarrassing baby pictures."

Somehow that didn't make him feel any better.

"Mom, please, this is a party to celebrate our entry into the Kantou Tournament right? We don't need to look at _any_ pictures,_ at all_."

"I suppose you're right." His mother put the album back on the shelf, but before Sena could properly enjoy his small victory she added: "You kids can party first, and I'll take out the album later."

Where was his dad? He'd help Sena keep his dignity.

"I can't wait to see your pictures, Sena-_kun_." Hiruma said in a light hearted way that made everyone except for Kurita, Musashi and Sena's mother shudder.

"Hm? Are you all cold?"

Everyone made a quick, not entirely believable excuse, but his mother was too far up on cloud nine to be bothered by the inconsistent, muttered explanations.

The 'party' was quick to commence, although it played out more like a team meeting then a celebration, with conversations on games to be played and matches finished long ago often being the topics of conversation. Occasionally a person would say something with a distinct undertone of: _damn, I can't believe we made it this far with this rag tag team_, and were answered with an underlying subtext of: _you better believe it, and we're gonna keep on winning._

It was kind of amusing to see them discussing but not _directly_ discussing how far they had gone and how far they were going to go, but Hiruma would be snapping them out of that soon enough, once his personality went back to normal.

His father briefly came out of hiding early on, presumably to make sure his wife wasn't acting _too_ mortifying, before disappearing back into his room. And his mother thankfully never managed to find time to take out any albums of any sort, too busy having Hiruma explain the rules of football to her so that she could have a better understanding of what was happening the next time she watched a game.

Everyone slowly began taking their leave in the early evening, it was a school night after all, but his mother had this unbelievably content look on her face, as if they'd stayed over for an entire day and had proved themselves to be very agreeable guests. All in all this shindig hadn't been that bad and he could finally relax again, at least until something else popped up in his life to stress him out.

The following morning he made his way to school, bright eyed and bushy tailed despite the lack of morning practice, and ran into Monta at the shoe lockers.

Monta's lips were pursed and his eyebrows were furrowed as he stroked his chin, a classic Monta thinking pose.

"Did something happen?" Sena asked slowly as he put his shoes away and Monta shook his head roughly.

"It's not that something has happened, but it's that something might happen." Monta replied vaguely as they started making their way through the halls towards their respective classes.

"Something might happen? Like what?"

"Do you think Hiruma-san is planning to do something for the culture festival?"

Sena shrugged. "I don't think so, why?"

"I stopped by the clubhouse to get a text book I'd forgotten in my locker, and there were a bunch of construction workers, you know, doing their thing."

"Well, Hiruma-san always seems to be adding stuff to the clubhouse, I'm sure he's just trying to improve it some more."

"I don't know about that, dude. Musashi-san usually goes along with that sort of thing really _nonchalantly_, you know, but this time he was giving Hiruma-san this _look_, you see, like he was out of his mind." Monta whispered the last part.

"Well, Hiruma-san is pretty eccentric sometimes." Sena reasoned, although Musashi reacting to his eccentricities was out of the norm.

"And get this; whatever they're building is only _temporary_. The foundation they're using is pretty low grade stuff, Musashi-san wouldn't allow that if this was a normal addition."

"That's true."

"So, you've got no idea what's going on?"

Sena shook his head, momentarily wondering if there was a reason why he _should_ know, before he reached his classroom and bid Monta good-bye.

Hiruma's antics really shouldn't bother him after he'd known the other boy for so long, but he couldn't help wondering what the blonde was up to. A little more light was shed on the situation during his lunch break, when the class representative, a slim girl with her hair pulled back in a no-nonsense ponytail, approached Sena's table, where the Huh Huh Brothers were also situated.

At first he thought she was just going to be confirming their participation in the class'... Whatever they were doing for the culture festival, but then he noticed that she seemed oddly anxious, strange behaviour for someone who was used to addressing larger groups of people.

"I... I just thought I ought to tell you that your services will not be required on the day of the culture festival, as Hiruma-san mentioned to me that the four of you would be participating in a booth for the football club. He told me that I should pass it on." She stated quickly, eyes flickering about as if she were under the impression that she was being watched.

"Oh, thank you." Sena replied politely after absorbing what he'd been told.

The class rep muttered: "You're welcome." under her breath before scurrying off, happy that her task was over.

"So... The American football club is going to have a booth..." Toganou slowly closed the manga he'd been skimming through. "Anyone have any idea about what we're doing?"

"Well, if it's Hiruma who came up with the idea..." Kuroki trailed off, eyebrows furrowing.

Thankfully they only had to wait until the end of school for the answer, which Hiruma was all too happy to tell the entire team once they'd gathered.

Sena would like to say that he was surprised, but somehow what Hiruma had planned just seemed like an obvious course of action, because this was _Hiruma_ after all.

"Oh, a haunted house, that sounds fun!"

"It also sounds very appropriate." Kuroki mumbled, sending a pointed glance in the blonde's direction.

"But wow, what a normal way to raise club funds." Toganou commented dryly.

Hiruma ignored the both of them in favour of grinning in his particularly evil way at the entire group.

"Get ready for the preparation of hell! I'm gonna work you till you drop!" He finished off with his trademark cackle.

The haunted house was definitely a good idea, as long as Hiruma was taking part.

"But really," Mamori, ever the voice of reason, spoke up calmly despite Hiruma's antics. "I can't believe you've hired people to help build temporary rooms for this, it's only a haunted house, we could just use the space that we have."

Hiruma stopped his malicious laughter and pursed his lips together for a moment. "You're the one who said it would be 'nice' if we got club funds without using extortion, besides, it's not going to be just _any_ haunted house, it'll be the best one, _ever_."

'But if he isn't blackmailing anyone, then who's paying the construction workers?'

Mamori sighed into her hand, but didn't make any protests. "How on Earth do you intend to make it the best haunted house ever?"

"Because I'm quite adept at giving people a fright."

Well, no one was going to dispute that.

Quickly enough everyone had been divided into groups, and each group would be in charge of decorating a certain room when the additions were finished. Hiruma had given everyone a short list of things that they needed to make, borrow or buy: chairs, paint, candles and the like, and everyone had gone off to collect whatever was on their list. And, when they had finally finished getting everything they'd been ordered to, Hiruma gave them _another_ list.

Sena was under the impression that Hiruma left things off of the previous lists on purpose, just so everyone had to go running off for supplies again.

Suzuna had been appointed in charge of costumes, with the rest of the cheer-leading squad becoming her faithful assistants. They'd all gone around to take everyone's measurements before it was time for them all to go home, although Suzuna stayed behind with Hiruma to discuss who would be dressed as what.

What each one of them would be dressing up as was being a kept a secret though, presumably so that once they learned what they were going to be they'd have no time to worm their way out of it and would just have to live with it. _Wonderful_.

The temporary additions were finished by the end of school the following day and everyone set to work decorating the spaces to the best of their ability while Hiruma took it upon himself to work on the clubhouse's main room, cheerily dubbing the space the 'Den of Evil'.

The rest of the week passed by in a flurry of activity and training disguised as preparation and when the day of the culture festival finally arrived Sena, as Hiruma had instructed everyone the night before, came to school excruciatingly early and waited around the entrance to the temporary additions, wondering what he'd get stuck doing.

Just as long as he didn't have to walk around advertising he was pretty sure he'd be fine with whatever he was supposed to dress up as and do. Besides, it was just a haunted house, what was the worst that could happen?

He heard Suzuna approaching before he actually saw her, she was cheerily humming a tune before rounding a corner, brightening up even more when she caught sight of him.

"I'm here to reveal your position to you!" She chirped as she glided beside him, a large grocery bag that presumably held Sena's costume dangling in her grasp. "You're not going to be one of the main, uh, attractions of the haunted house, you'll be in the second section of the addition, grouped with Juumonji and that corpse prop that Yo-nii had someone make."

'Ah, the second section is a pretty small room, I didn't see it before it was completed though...' He was fairly certain someone had brought in a table and chairs for that specific room, but that didn't give him much of a hint.

"What am I going to be? A ghost?"

"Well, you're going to be a zombie... To be more precise, a zombie maid."

Sena's jaw nearly hit the floor.

"What? Is that really necessary? I can't just be a zombie without the maid bit?"

Suzuna tried and failed to hide her large smile behind a hand as she began to explain. "Yo-nii said that you mentioned something about a maid cafe..."

"Th-that was only in passing! And it wasn't like I was even suggesting that we do anything like that, I mentioned it even before I knew Hiruma-san wanted our club to participate in the culture fest!"

"Sorry, but Yo-nii's mind is already made up, I don't think you can talk him out of it."

Sena crossed his arms and frowned. "But I could try, where is he right now?"

"I don't know."

'Damn, he must have known I'd react like this.'

"Why does this always happen to me?! Why am I the only one who has to dress up like a girl?!"

Suzuna blinked at him. "You're not the only one."

"I mean, really, I- wait, what?" Sena abruptly paused as what Suzuna said caught up with him.

"Kuroki is going to be dressing up as a possessed Victorian doll." She stated matter-of-factly, waving her index finger in the air

"K-Kuroki-kun is?"

"Yep, and your 'partner in crime' Juumonji is going to be a zombie butler, also, there _may or may not_ be some other members who find themselves in a situation similar to you and Kuroki, so at least you're not the only one to do something like this." Suzuna held out the plastic bag she'd been holding and Sena took a deep breath as he reached in and grabbed the material inside it.

He pulled out what could only be considered the girliest article of clothing he'd ever had the misfortune of handling.

It was pink. It had frills. It was short. He was almost completely certain that he'd once vowed to himself that he'd never wear anything like it.

He had been expecting something a little more... Tasteful, and modest, and black and white and, well, something that would make this ordeal a little less embarrassing.

"You're kidding, right?"

Suzuna had to be joking, his real outfit must be hidden somewhere, and she'd given this to him in order to cause undue stress.

"Why would I kid about something like this? As your agent I demand you go and change into that outfit right now."

Sena looked down at the pink, frilled clothing he was holding and furrowed his eyebrows.

"There is no way I'm wearing this."

"But if you don't wear it, who will? I mean, I totally would, except I, as an outsider, can't possibly participate in your school's culture fest."

"And yet, here you are, participating." Sena set the atrociously girly clothes back in the bag and gave Suzuna a meaningful look. "Besides, there's no way you could make me wear that."

He should have known that Suzuna, who looked up to Hiruma as an older brother figure, would take that as a challenge.


	113. Chapter 113

FASH: Alright, I finally get to do the tournament drawing by the end of next chapter, which means Marco will be showing up. Yay! He's so awesome and sly...

""-speech

''-thoughts

"How do I manage to get myself into these situations?" Sena grumbled. "I thought my will power was stronger than this."

"Just for future reference," Suzuna chimed, tying the bow at Sena's back with the utmost care. "Whenever a girl and a guy fight, the girl always wins."

"Isn't that sexist?"

"Not at all."

"But whenever Hiruma-san and Mamori-neechan duke it out..."

"That always ends in a draw, and Yo-nii is Yo-nii, so that's different." She tugged on the bow one last time to ensure perfection before patting Sena on the back.

How did Sena lose this battle of wills? He didn't really want to say; but Suzuna had just become a lot scarier and a lot more like Hiruma all of a sudden, and before he knew it he had given in.

'Girls are scary.'

"Alright, now we just have to douse you with some fake blood and we're done!"

"Fake blood?" So he might actually be able to look terrifying, and the world wasn't against him?

"Yep, I made some last night using water, corn syrup, flour and food colouring!"

"Thank goodness."

"But first we'd better hurry and meet up with everyone outside the clubhouse. Convincing you didn't take too long, but you took longer to dress than I thought you would."

Sena huffed, causing the long bangs of the black wig he was wearing to drift upwards before settling over his eyes once again. "That was not my fault."

"I know, I know, now hurry it up, I bet everyone else is already there." She gripped his hand and began rushing outside towards the clubhouse, Sena nearly tripping every couple of seconds due to the bangs of the wig blinding him.

When they finally slowed to a stop he hastily brushed his bangs aside and the first thing he saw was a doll that looked like Kuroki; if he was born a girl and was a gothic lolita, then he slowly moved his eyes to the hand that was gripping the doll, up the arm whose fabric matched the doll's clothing, and then he finally rested his eyes on the face of the person who stood before him.

Kuroki looked... Oddly pretty, and very uncomfortable. He had been forced to wear a curly wig and a very liberal amount of makeup, and somehow Sena felt relieved that he hadn't been the one chosen to be the possessed doll.

Their eyes met and they shared a look of mutual discomfort. Kuroki was fidgeting around a lot, gripping distastefully at material around his legs and cursing under his breath in a decidedly un-feminine way, a flush that had nothing to do with cosmetic products making his cheeks a deep red.

Instinctively wanting to help keep most of the discomfort at bay Sena reached out a hand and lightly patted Kuroki's fist. "It'll be okay, no one will be able to tell it's you in the dim lighting."

"My pride as a man has been compromised."

"A-ha-ha!" Taki spun over; his, Monta's and Toganou's costumes seemed to indicate that they were a group of circus performers that had made a deadly miscalculation. "If I may say so, you would have made a lovely wom-" He stopped mid sentence when Kuroki stomped the heel of his boot down on the blonde's toes.

Sena slowly turned away from the commotion to get a better look at everyone else's costumes, although he couldn't help but mentally congratulate Kuroki on a job well done.

Mamori and Yukimitsu looked like the traditional sort of ghosts you'd usually see in a haunted house, and he could tell by the way Suzuna was enthusiastically circling them, rather shark-like in his opinion, that their matching outfits filled her with some sort of fan-girlish glee. They'd be the ones at the entrance, reminding people to go forth in an orderly fashion.

Juumonji was in his butler outfit, fake blood and all, and a few added touches like rips in his jacket, a missing glove and a fake knife wound running down his arm completed the picture. The only way you could tell that he and Sena were meant to be a pair was his undamaged pink tie.

Musashi was a samurai, something that probably would have amused Sena more if he weren't still a little bitter about his own costume, and had a sign advertising their haunted house propped against his shoulder. Kurita and Komusubi were both in black suits holding black masks, something which would have been confusing if Sena hadn't been the one in charge of getting the UV blacklight reactive paint, blacklight light bulbs, and painting circles in the third room of the addition.

Hiruma didn't look too different from normal, in fact he was just wearing plain black clothes with a black cape, but the aptly named 'Den of Evil' would probably just accentuate the 'qualities' he already had anyways.

Before they started setting themselves up in their appointed rooms Hiruma wanted everyone to have a walk-through of the entire place.

"Once you see how scary it is without anyone inside, you'll get to know how our _dear_ customers are going to feel as they walk on the path towards death." He explained with a sly smile, steeping his hands together just below his chin.

Very few people felt like moving forward after that, considering how no one really knew what Hiruma had done to the clubhouse.

"Come on Sena, let's go!" Suzuna cheerily exclaimed, grabbing his hand and dragging him inside before he could make any protests about it.

The first room was narrow, there was hardly enough space for two people to walk side by side, except for a small alcove where a chair had been placed, presumably where someone, probably Kuroki, would be sitting. There was a fog machine and a stereo hidden somewhere, looping some rather creepy giggling, gruesome screams and gross eating sounds. It extended for maybe six feet, getting people into a horror mood before they reached the second room where Sena and Juumonji would be.

The lighting of the room was a sickly sort of green, and laid out on the table was the corpse prop that Suzuna had told him about, looking decidedly shredded and grotesque.

"There's a bowl of more fake blood in the empty space underneath where the ribcage would be, just in case you wanted to splash around a little." Suzuna helpfully informed, her smile looking more devious than normal.

"Er, thanks."

The next room was the blacklight room, and while the glowing circles painted upon the walls may not be too scary, at least without a bunch of them mysteriously moving around, the soft carnival music that was playing through the hidden speakers would probably unnerve people.

He was somewhat surprised that Hiruma hadn't forced someone to dress up as a scary clown.

He entered the final part of the addition somewhat warily, noting how the music changed to be more sinister and every once in a while a pained scream or groan would rise above the other sounds. In the center of the room was the circular platform where Monta, Taki and Toganou would be piled up, half dead.

The entrance into the clubhouse was narrow, because they were using only half of the normal entrance, while the other half was the exit. The wall continued for several feet, blocking whatever might be on the other side of the room from sight, and the flickering red lights Hiruma had set up at the far wall gave the impression of fire.

'And here we are, the 'Den of Evil'.' Sena gulped and stepped inside.

"Kekeke! I'll drag you down to hell!" Hiruma's voice announced directly behind them and both Suzuna and Sena jumped in fright before turning, only to see no one there.

"Nice job, Yo-nii." Suzuna murmured as she squinted, trying to make out the near invisible speaker that had been placed over the doorway before giddily turning and skipping down the make-shift hallway, Sena shuffling along behind her.

When they finally reached the end of the dividing wall they turned to see that an ominous looking throne of sorts had been positioned atop a platform that looked as if it were carved out of dark rock. It was unnerving just seeing it as it was, but with Hiruma sitting on it, cackling away in sheer, devious amusement, it would be at least ten times scarier.

"This haunted house is going to be awesome!" Suzuna exclaimed as they squeezed through the exit and Sena wordlessly agreed.

'Eclectic, but awesome. It might even end up being _too_ awesome, depending on how much fun Hiruma-san is going to have scaring everybody.'

After everyone had been given a chance to make their way through all the rooms and were told what to and what not to do by Hiruma they took their places and began some last minute preparations on their own.

Juumonji decided to help out by splattering a much needed, copious amount of fake blood over Sena's clothing, smirking knowingly all the while.

When Sena thought he looked horrific enough he attempted to get into character, figuring he'd seen enough zombie movies to successfully mimic their actions.

"Do you think I should mumble stuff about brains under my breath?" He asked and Juumonji coughed into his hand.

"Please don't, I don't think I'd be able to stop myself from laughing if you did."

"Then what should I do? Just hover over here and pretend to be eating this guy." Sena poked the prop on the table warily.

"How about I hover around the table, and you just sort of shakily follow the people that come in, Hiruma did say something about breathing down their necks."

"I'm not following anyone that closely, someone will think I'm sexually harassing them."

Juumonji snorted. "That would be funny too."

"Would not!"

"Would too, no one would believe that you're capable of something like that. Even if you did purposefully sexually harass someone, you could definitely get away with it."

"... I'm going to ignore the way you seem to be encouraging me to assault people."

"Good plan."

Several minutes later Yukimitsu came through to make sure everyone was ready, and soon after that their first customers were let in.

Their jobs were surprisingly easy, some of the people who passed through had already lost some of their courage due to the way Kuroki's scowling eyes would follow them as they passed through, and by the time they entered the second room to see a blood stained Sena reaching out for them they'd quickly side step him and speed walk away.

But alas, all good things come to an end. Sena knew that sooner or later, with his luck, something would go wrong.

"So cute!"

"Cute really isn't what I'm trying to go for though." Sena mumbled, squinting through his bangs to try and figure out who would call him 'cute' when he was all bloodied up, the voice sounded familiar, but he couldn't really tell with the horrifying noises playing over the speakers.

"... Sena?"

Sena brushed his bangs away and stared at the pair in front of him with a hopeless look while Juumonji unsuccessfully tried to stifle his laughter.

"What are you guys doing here?"

"It's a culture fest, cul-ture-fest." Mizumachi said, as if by repeating himself everything would make sense.

"Mizumachi, we shouldn't loiter around, let's move on." Kakei said, pushing the blonde forward.

"Aww, but Sena hasn't tried to attack us or anything yet."

Kakei sighed, but didn't relent. "We can't cause a hold up, another group is going to be let in soon so let's go."

"You're no fun. See ya later Sena." Mizumachi took several steps forward before pausing. "Oh, I'm getting chills for some reason, maybe this place is really haunted?"

"There's no such thing as ghosts Mizumachi, and even if there were, they'd be hanging around older buildings."

"Ah, you may have a point there."

Sena rolled his eyes fondly as the pair disappeared into the next room before dipping his hands into the bowl of fake blood that was hidden by the corpse prop, somehow feeling more in the mood to scare people after being called cute.

"Don't leave your hands in there too long, they're gonna get stained like that. And get ready, the next group should be coming through any second now."

Sena nodded quickly and removed his hands, side stepping away from the table and holding the dripping limbs out, head lolling to the side in what he hoped was a creepy way.

Too bad he was the one destined for a fright.

The next person to step into the room was none other than Agon, who _very slowly_ looked Sena up and down, his teeth grinding together in irritation.

"What. The fuck. Are you wearing?"

Juumonji tensed and threw Sena a look which the brunette worriedly reciprocated before focussing all his attention on the dread head.

"Uhhh. There's a good reason for this, really, so if you'll just stay calm and allow me to-"

"Where is _he_?"

"Agon-san, I'm not going to allow your temper to get the best of you. I won't let you go after Hiruma-san because you're just going to cause trouble." Sena stated as he grabbed Agon's arm, momentarily forgetting that his hands were currently covered in fresh fake blood.

Agon, feeling the moisture seeping in through his sleeve, looked down and Sena warily followed his line of sight.

'Oh damn.'

"You're lucky this is my school uniform, otherwise I might actually get mad." Agon seethed as he removed Sena's hand from his sleeve more gently than one would think someone as angry as him would. Instead of letting go though he held the hand up for closer inspection, eyebrows furrowing before he pressed Sena's still bloody hand against his face.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Juumonji demanded, looking seconds away from stalking over and trying to force Agon out.

"As long as I look like I belong in this haunted house, I can argue with that trash as much as I like." He said with a sneer before stalking forward.

The zombie pair watched him leave with wide eyes and Juumonji heaved a sigh. "What kind of logic is that?"

"... This is going to cause a lot of trouble, isn't it?"

"Probably, but I suppose we can only do what we have been doing before everyone finds out there's another crazy guy in here."

But, contrary to popular belief, the number of people, namely girls, coming in increased over time. Somehow word had gotten out that Hiruma and 'some other scary sexy guy' were both radiating dark enough auras to send a shiver down the bravest person's spine, and with so many people coming for Agon and Hiruma's 'hellish battle' it was hard to try and scare them all. Sena was unbelievably grateful when Mamori came through to tell everyone that their haunted house was finally closed.

He and Juumonji had changed into their school uniforms before making their way to a bathroom to thoroughly scrub away all that remained of the fake blood, which had dried long ago.

"In the end, Agon-san losing his temper somehow made our haunted house even better." Sena absentmindedly said as he relentlessly scrubbed at his hands.

"It's a good thing Anezaki and Yukimitsu were able to convince the teachers that their 'battle' was just a pre-planned incident to draw in more customers, even if none of them has the guts to even think about giving Hiruma detention."

"Yeah, but I really wish Agon-san didn't react like that. And I think he might have been looking in on us while Mizumachi-kun and Kakei-kun were still in the room."

Juumonji stopped scrubbing to rinse his hands. "I know that maybe I shouldn't mention this, but don't you think he's a little_ too_ protective of you?"

"Compared to what?"

"Well, compared to how others treat you... I guess..."

Sena pursed his lips together and cocked his head to the side in thought. "Not really."

The spying was a habit he could do without though.

"But he seems like a pretty rough guy, so it's weird that he's sort of like how Anezaki used to be, right?"

"Hmm." Sena rinsed his hands and frowned a little upon finding them to still be a rather bold shade of pink. "Maybe it's because of our unavoidable relationship, he just gradually warmed up to me, after finding out that I wasn't completely worthless, that is. He would treat me how he normally treats people, that is to say, very badly, if my abilities weren't at least somewhat impressive."

"Oh." Juumonji faltered for a moment, eyebrows furrowing as he searched for the right words. "How does he normally treat women?"

Sena paused, throwing the blonde a curious look from the corner of his eye before mulling over the question. He'd never really seen Agon with any of his girlfriends before, but considering how quickly he went through them...

"Not very well."

"And do you know how many other people he treats with some degree of respect?"

"Why are you asking all these questions anyways?"

"Well, as you are someone who I admire and who inspires me, I feel like I should be aware of others' intentions towards you."

"Intentions? You make it sound like he's scheming something."

"You never know. I mean, his reaction was pretty normal, violent and a bit unorthodox, but normal, but if you think about how he treats the majority of the world's population, doesn't that mean his reaction was unusual?"

"Nah, he and Hiruma-san don't get along very well, so he probably used that as an excuse to fight with him some more." Sena said, not entirely believing it himself.

Juumonji sighed into his hands. "You're stubborn about this, aren't you?"

"I'm not stubborn, I'm skeptic. If _the very straight_ Agon-san had a thing for me, I'm pretty sure I would notice."

"And, just to satisfy my curiosity, what would you do if you found out he did?"

Sena pursed his lips for several moments as he attempted to wrap his head around the near impossible situation.

"If Agon-san had a crush on me, well, don't think badly of me for this, but I might end up booking it out of there."

"Oh? I thought that you didn't want to run away from your problems anymore."

"Juumonji-kun, if someone like Agon-san were after you, what do you think you'd do?"

The blonde rubbed at the back of his neck. "I'd probably run the fuck away too."

"See?! It's one thing if I'm trying to prove myself by being confident on and off of the field, or if a relatively harmless person is lusting after me, but Agon-san is far from harmless, he willingly fights with Hiruma-san after all."

"Point taken."


	114. Chapter 114

FASH: Marco shows up, yay! I love that suave, sly guy, especially his hair.

""-speech

''-thoughts

The Haunted House had closed earlier than any other attraction, possibly because if it had stayed open too much longer Agon would be attracting too much of the wrong kind of attention, so Sena was able to leisurely wander around the school grounds in a relative state of peace after washing up to the best of his ability.

Of course, being _relatively peaceful _when someone like Agon was on the prowl, probably searching high and low for you so he could tell you how weak willed you were without interruption was a far cry from being completely peaceful, but Sena hadn't run into the dread head yet, and he wasn't planning to any time soon. And he had a feeling that if Agon found out that it had been a girl who, _theoretically_, couldn't do anything to him, to cause his 'weak willed-ness', the lecture would become even more unbearable.

He'd been walking around alone for a while, figuring that a group of football players would be more conspicuous than just him, when a pair of hands were clasped over his eyes from behind.

He curbed the urge to duck away from the hands, because this certainly wasn't Agon's style and even if it was by some chance the dread head he wouldn't be able to get away if Agon didn't want him to.

"_Guess who_."

Sena couldn't repress a smile at the sound of the badly disguised voice. "Mizumachi-kun."

"What?" The blonde's hands fell away and Sena turned to look at the comically shocked boy. "How did you figure it out so fast?"

"How many other high schoolers still do things like that?" Kakei questioned in response, causing the blonde to turn to him with a pout.

"Just because I'm more youthful than you-"

"I believe the word you're searching for is 'immature'."

"You're such a stick in the mud." Mizumachi said before childishly sticking his tongue out.

"I think you mean level-headed." Kakei replied, crossing his arms and looking very adult-like.

Sena hid his smile behind his hand, but couldn't seem to stop himself from commenting aloud.

"You two are a good match."

He hadn't meant it in a relationship way, just that they balanced each other out quite well, but they didn't seem to take it how he meant it.

The pair turned to give the other an unreadable look before turning their attention back to Sena. Mizumachi quickly got the smaller boy trapped in a headlock and began giving him a noogie.

"As if! Kakei-_chan_ isn't my type at all."

"Don't add 'chan' onto my name."

"Why not? It's cute."

"... It's not exactly helping the current situation."

"Oh, right." Mizumachi freed Sena from the headlock, but ruffled his hair some more for good measure. "Well, I'm not Kakei's type either, he likes-"

"_Mizumachi_."

"Cute guys." Mizumachi finished with a wide smile.

Sena attempted to tame his hair as he looked up at the blonde with a raised eyebrow.

"Don't take this in a weird way Mizumachi-kun, but your personality is pretty cute."

"Oh, really?" Mizumachi asked, covering his face with his hands in mock-shyness. "You flatter me."

Kakei raised a hand to his temples in exasperation, but a small smile could be seen if you looked hard enough.

Sena grinned. "Your height doesn't really make it easy to think of you as cute though."

"Ah, that's because I'm sexy."

Kakei's smile twitched.

"Yes, well," Sena paused, an uneasy feeling spreading over him and making him wonder if Hiruma or Agon were anywhere in the immediate area. "It's good to have confidence in your physical appearance."

"... You were supposed to agree with me." Mizumachi said, pouting dramatically.

"Your ego doesn't need to grow anymore." Kakei informed his companion with a straight face.

Sena nodded, softly laughing under his breath, before throwing a cautious look over his shoulder. He didn't see either of the people he suspected were lurking about, but that didn't mean they weren't there.

"I'd better go meet up with my friends before they start wondering where I am." Sena lifted his hand and gave a slight wave before heading off. "You guys have fun!"

"Right back at ya!" Mizumachi called after him and Sena glanced back, smiling.

He kept his eyes peeled and wasn't entirely too surprised when he spotted Agon, glaring in Mizumachi's general direction.

'Just how long has he been there?' Sometimes Agon could be creepy without even putting any effort into it.

"What are you looking at?" Sena asked as he went to stand beside the older boy, but Agon looked towards him before he could trace his line of sight to see if it had been Mizumachi he was glaring at.

"It's too crowded here, and there aren't any sexy girls either."

Sena didn't give in to the urge to ask why he was still around if he disliked it and allowed Agon another moment to vent.

"And that trash you call a captain is really fucking annoying when he laughs. I went in there to straighten him out and he just _laughed_ whenever I threatened him." Agon grumbled several particularly violent threats under his breath. "How the hell can you stand him without wanting to push him over the side of a building?"

"Well, I'm not really inclined to violence." Sena answered simply and Agon cocked an eyebrow at him.

"That's why you get pushed around so much."

Sena sighed. 'I knew he'd mention something like this.'

"Seriously, would it kill you to knock someone around when they're doing something you don't like?"

Sena pursed his lips, wondering if Agon remembered that he used to be one of the kids who were 'knocked around' for no good reason.

"Even if you think you can't do it to a team mate or, _God forbid_, your captain, you could just track down those guys who used to bully you. I'll teach you how to break someone's nose with one punch." Agon offered with a straight face, completely serious.

Knowing that this was Agon's way of helping out, but really not wanting to learn how to purposefully cause bodily harm, Sena quickly declined the offer.

"Che. You'll come to your senses sooner or later." The dread head announced before slinking away, most likely to search for a pretty enough girl to make him feel as if he hadn't wasted his time here.

"I just don't understand him sometimes." Sena shook his head and went off in search of his friends, trying to shove all Agon related matters into the very back of his mind, to be brought out and pondered over later.

The morning of the Kantou Tournament drawing he awoke later than he planned, apparently having pushed the sleep button on his alarm clock several times without completely waking up to be aware he was doing it. Knowing that if he was even seconds late for the tournament drawing Hiruma would have his head he quickly sprung out of bed and threw on the clothes that Juri had helped him pick out before rushing to the bathroom to run a comb through his hair and brush his teeth, then he dashed down the stairs and out the door as if his life depended on it.

He met up with Monta along the way, and was grateful to know that he hadn't been the only one too excited to go to sleep at a reasonable time. But whether two or ten people had slept in, the punishment for being late would still be the same.

And, as expected, although they were only seconds late Hiruma still felt the need to fire multiple weapons in their direction.

In a true show of how used to this he was by now, Sena was more worried about how Juri would react if his new clothes got scuffed up the first time he wore them, as opposed to worrying about his own health.

After he and Monta had picked themselves up off the ground, with Sena subtly checking over his clothes to make sure they weren't ripped anywhere, Hiruma ordered everyone to get inside with a call of: "Hey, morons, let's go!"

Sena crept into the large, lavish room, looking around in silent awe as Suzuna happily whipped out her cell phone and began taking pictures beside him.

He paused for a moment when he saw the tournament chart at the front, the four sections on each side a far cry from what the chart at the beginning of the Tokyo Tournament had been.

A hand lightly tapping the back of his head brought him out of his slightly bewildered state and he turned to see Monta glancing around, eyebrows furrowed.

"All the max-superstars are here." He stated, eyes suddenly pausing and Sena followed his line of sight to see the Oujou group.

"Yeah. Everyone here got through to the regionals." He answered back as he tore his eyes away from the familiar team to get a better look at the ones he hadn't seen before.

"Hey, is that Taiyo Sphinx's..."

"Banba-san?!"

Curious due to the unusual tone Juumonji and Kurita had used both Sena and Monta turned to glance at the large player, and found themselves forced into a state of shock.

Scars, loads of them, were covering Banba's face and head, a particularly nasty one starting from his temple and diagonally slashing over his left eye.

"He must have been through hell to get scars like that!" Sena worriedly observed as Kurita approached the other lineman, respectful as ever.

"Heh. They lost big to Seibu. It wasn't his fault, but he paid a price." Hiruma commented, leaving Sena to wonder what the hell kind of price involved scarring to that extent?

He was drawn away from his troubled thoughts that maybe the Death March was a piece of cake compared to what Banba had gone through when he noticed Riku standing on the platform in front of the match-up chart, pulling a mini football with the number two on it out of a box. One of the event organizers stuck Seibu's logo magnet on the left side of the board, second from the top.

"Seibu's on the left!" Sena whispered quickly.

"The left, what does that mean?" Monta questioned excitedly.

"Uh, they went first, so nothing yet." Suzuna dryly informed them, perking up when she saw Riku heading their way.

"Sena, draw a slot for Block B on the right." The fair haired boy began with a confident smile. "That way Deimon and Seibu can square off in the championships."

Sena nodded as Riku walked away. "That's right." He whispered to himself. "I'll play Riku, Shin-san, all of them in the championship."

"That's not possible..." Suzuna commented from behind him, but Sena's attention had once again been stolen away as he spotted Marco going up to draw out his team's number, and he rather belatedly realized that he was going to have to come clean about his real gender, like, _now_.

Before he could worry about how exactly he was supposed to do this in the least perverse sounding way Suzuna was pushing him towards the platform, she and Monta urging him to draw a good number.

"Wha-? Me?" He pointed to himself in uncertainty. "Shouldn't Hiruma-san do it?"

Apparently not, because Suzuna just pushed him forward harder. "Good luck!"

He reached in and quickly yanked out the first ball his fingers brushed against, looking at the number through squinting eyes as he made his way back to his team mates.

"Number five?"

"Oh, good! That's the opposite side of Seibu!"

"A-haha, nice job!"

"Good play! Good play!"

After several strong pats on the back Sena managed to spot where Marco was sitting and slowly slipped away from the group, Hiruma noticed him leave, but simply smirked after he realized where Sena was headed.

'Why must you find these awkward situations amusing?' He cast a glance to the front to see that Oujou had drawn the number seven, so they'd end up meeting in the semi-finals, and stilled for a moment when Shin looked his way, their eyes meeting for only a second, but both were able to send out the same message.

I won't lose.

But once Oujou had to step down from the platform, Shin disappearing in a crowd of much taller players, Sena reminded himself of what he had set out to do.

He approached somewhat warily, knowing that one of the biggest, if not the biggest, lies he'd ever told was about to unravel, and he really hoped Marco didn't react too violently to the truth.

He really didn't want the entire room to find out just what exactly he'd been forced to do in order to spy on other teams.

He slowly came to a stop in front of the blue eyed boy and greeted him softly.

"Ah, Sena..." Marco seemed to be thinking something over and Sena was all too ready for the other boy to find out the truth.

He wasn't ready for Marco's mutter of: "Forgive me for this." and his abrupt move out of his chair and forward, his hands pressing flat against Sena's chest.

It was a good thing Sena was a guy, otherwise Marco would have been slapped across the face, hard.

"Uh..." Sena blinked in confusion as Marco pulled his hands away. "Couldn't you have just asked me if I was really a guy?"

"Ah, but you might have lied, so it was easier that way." Marco replied nonchalantly. "Goodness, I should have noticed this the last time we met, you've become manlier, I don't think you'd really be able to pass as a girl anymore without _a lot_ of assistance, I'd say."

"Marco-kun..." Sena reached forward and grabbed onto Marco's hands gratefully. "That's one of the nicest things anyone's ever said to me."

Marco's expression mirrored the confused one Sena had been wearing earlier. "What?"

"_Representing Kanagawa; the Shinryuji Nagas._"

Both boys turned to look at the renowned team, Sena completely forgetting to let go of Marco's hands until he saw Agon glancing their way, scowling darkly.

He quickly pulled his hands away and held them against his chest, glancing up at Agon, hoping he didn't do anything rash.

His hope was for naught, and as soon as he saw Agon snatch the mini football out of Yamabushi's hand he knew the dread head was planning something _bad_. It was only because he made his own move before Agon had let go of the ball that he was able to push Marco out of the way of the incoming object.

Sena's eyes flicked over in Agon's direction and he flinched a little when he saw the seething look on the older boy's face.

"Well, since it seems you've saved me again I suppose I'll just have to forgive you for lying to me, although I'm not sure how Maria will feel about it." Marco managed to say, sounding more confident than he looked.

Sena smiled wanly, he definitely wasn't going to bring up how he might have been the reason Marco had been targeted in the first place.

"_In the first round the Deimon Devil Bats will be playing the Shinryuji Nagas._"

Sena whipped his head back around to look at the match-up chart, unable to control his shock. "What?"

Marco patted his back lightly. "Good luck with that."

Not long afterwards one of the tournament organizers, the one one who'd announced the Best Eleven and MVP of the Tokyo Tournament, came around to ask about the ball incident and Agon polished up his acting skills, innocently claiming it had been an accident on Yamabushi's part, and getting away with it.

After his stress levels had risen to a dangerous level, mostly because during the rest of the drawing Agon kept sending him looks that he couldn't quite understand, he was finally let out of the building and after bidding a quick good-bye to his team he began rushing home, slowing down only when he heard his name being called in a completely non-threatening way.

He turned to see Kakei and Mizumachi heading towards him, both of them seemed to be rather cheery for some reason, and upon questioning why they were so happy Mizumachi's smile widened further and Kakei took the liberty of answering.

"We'll be having a practice match soon."

"Oh really, against who?"

"Shinryuji."

"Shinryuji?" Sena repeated, wondering if the colour was visibly draining from his face.

"Yes." Kakei replied, looking quite unconcerned, and Mizumachi nodded excitedly beside him.

"You're having a practice game against the _Nagas_?" Sena asked once again, holding out on the hope that there was another school called Shinryuji somewhere in their area.

"Yes, it will be a good experience to play against such a strong team, especially as we prepare for next year's tournament."

"Well, yes it would be a good experience, except-"

"Don't worry, you'll get your chance to play them after us, I'm sure." Mizumachi said with a grin, clearly as at ease about this as Kakei was, and it seemed like nothing would be changing that any time soon.

"Yeah,_ really soon_ after you."

"Hm?"

"They're going to be the first team we play against in the tournament." Sena lamented, sighing when Mizumachi's expression seemed to implicate what he thought the outcome of that game would be.

"I'm sure you'll do fine." Kakei commented, although it seemed more out of a need to say something than out of conviction.

"Thanks."

"Anyways, we've got to get going now little dude, see you around." With that the two tall boys began walking off, and Sena found himself following after them.

"Wait!"

They both turned around, questioning looks on their faces.

"Uh, that is, when are you playing against them?"

"Oh, did you want to come cheer us on?" Mizumachi asked and Sena gave a slight nod.

This was worrisome, it may have just been his imagination that Agon had been glaring at Mizumachi during the culture fest, and it could have just been a coincidence that Agon had felt like venting his anger out on the un-expectant Marco after Sena had been seen gripping his hands, but the brunette just couldn't shake the feeling that these incidents weren't just a fluke. Which lead him to believe that something bad was going to happen, _again_, no matter how many times he told himself he was just being paranoid.

He'd just have to go watch the scrimmage, lest he become even more suspicious, and hope that he was extremely wrong about _everything_.


	115. Chapter 115

FASH: So now when I write the games they're going to be a little more _compact_. I'm not gonna completely skip over them, I might go into detail at the more important parts while just sort of summarizing the others. Since everyone knows what'll happen in the game anyways, it's probably better to keep them to one chapter, as opposed to, like, three. I hope I wrote the Mizumachi Incident well enough, Angry!Sena was a bit of a challenge.

""-speech

''-thoughts

'A scrimmage against the Nagas...' Sena flopped down on his bed with a sigh.

Playing against a team like them would be good for Kyoshin, it wasn't every day you could play against a team that had won the Kantou Tournament nine years straight, but for some reason it just had _bad idea_ written all over it.

Sena would be fooling himself if he said the reason was for anything other than Agon.

Agon was like a wild animal: dangerous, uncontrollable, and no one ever seemed to blame him for things, believing it was in his nature to react the way he did, it was always some other person's fault for 'disturbing his habitat'. Even Sena was still a little wary of him, despite knowing him for _years_, and as time passed by he had tried to force himself to forget how intentionally violent Agon was around people, not including Hiruma, because he wouldn't be forgetting the way those two fought any time soon.

The incident with Marco had been an unexpected reminder of what Agon was like, and while initially he'd been too shocked and yes, maybe a little scared, to think anything other than 'thank God I started moving when I did', once he had arrived at the _relative_ safety of his home he found himself become exasperated, inquisitive, and even a little angry.

What_ had_ Marco done to _deserve_ that anyways?

And why did Sena have this unnerving feeling that it really _was_ because of him? Agon didn't usually pry _too far_ into his personal life to the point of telling him whom he should and should not hang around.

Except if it was about Hiruma, because come hell or high water if it were about Hiruma Agon would pry, comment and scowl all he wanted.

And now Sena couldn't stop himself from wondering; if Hiruma weren't himself and was instead a relatively harmless being, would Agon still fight the blonde with the same amount of vigour?

The answer was, not surprisingly, a resounding _yes_.

'Agon-san isn't evil, he's just too used to getting away with things and doing what he wants. He's more like an ill tempered, spoiled child than anything, someday he'll grow out of his habits...'

_Oh_, who was he kidding? Agon had been like this too long without anyone trying to change him that he'd probably never change a great deal for the better. Sena was distressingly aware of that.

'I'll just have to go to the scrimmage to make sure everything is okay.'

But if Agon pulled another stunt like the one he pulled today, Sena wasn't sure how he'd react.

The morning of the scrimmage he awoke to the feeling of Pitt lightly nipping on his fingers and took that as a sign that it would be an unpleasant day. The feeling of paranoia that had been lingering around him ever since he had first heard of the practice game intensified when the day started out incredibly normal. School was a breeze and during the after school practice he'd only been shot at _a couple_ times.

Maybe now he knew what Kid felt like sometimes; only so much could go right before something terribly, _terribly_ wrong happened.

He tried to have more faith in Agon, _he really did_, and reminded himself how the older boy had saved him from bullies, had checked to make sure he was alright afterwords and was nice to him in his own gruff, violent way. Then he reached Kanagawa and remembered that Agon was a downright jerk to the majority of the population.

He arrived at Shinryuji Academy and quickly sought out the football field, the game would be nearly over by now, but he just wanted to make sure that everything was okay in person.

He probably could have wept in happiness when he saw that Agon wasn't on the field.

Then Unsui demanded that his brother get his gear on.

In a normal situation Sena would have agreed with Unsui wholeheartedly, but he wouldn't be so on edge in a _normal_ situation.

Agon replied in a low enough voice that Sena couldn't hear, but he knew the other boy well enough to guess at what he could be saying.

He was proven right when he saw Kakei react, his head snapping up and his lips slowly moving to form an unheard, but probably derogatory, word.

Mizumachi reacted as well, just a little louder than his companion, and even if Sena couldn't make out the actual words he could hear the disbelief in the blonde's voice.

Then Mizumachi stripped, finally speaking loud enough for Sena to hear what he was saying.

"Then I don't want pads either! They slow me down!"

For a split second Sena's lips curled up in a fond smile, Mizumachi's normal behaviour calming him down just slightly.

The paranoia quickly rushed back when he realized just _what_ Mizumachi was doing.

'Oh shit! Bad idea, bad idea, _bad idea_!' He opened his mouth but found himself rendered mute at the sight of Mizumachi moving towards Agon, doing his signature Splash move.

Agon never walked away from a challenge, never mind such a blatant one.

Sena could feel himself stop breathing but somehow didn't have the ability to take in more air as he stared, feet glued to the ground, at the scene unfolding in front of him.

He knew what Agon was capable of, knew that he could be unbelievably ruthless without batting an eyelash, knew that he could side-step Mizumachi's attack, lash out or trip him, and utter a biting comment that would kick him while he was down to utterly humiliate him.

He knew all that, but he didn't expect for Agon to take it a step further.

He slapped away Mizumachi's hands and moved behind him, but instead of kicking him to the ground he grabbed onto his arm and shoulder and_ twisted_.

Mizumachi fell to the ground in pain and Kakei frantically rushed towards him as Agon calmly walked away.

Maybe his ears had become used to the silence, or maybe the shock had heightened his senses, but he was somehow able to clearly hear Agon's laid back drawl.

"Oh, keep your jersey on. I just dislocated it."

Air suddenly rushed back into his lungs, and with it came an emotion that Sena instinctively knew was rage, and with _that_ came more mindless courage than Sena knew what to do with.

He was seethingly numb as he rushed forward, only dimly aware that Agon could snap him in half if he felt like it, and not really caring anyways.

The dread head had been conversing with Ikkyu, like he did this sort of thing _every single day_, when Sena finally came up behind him, arm drawing back, muscles tensing in anticipation.

Attacking from behind was dishonourable, but Sena couldn't bring himself to feel any sort of shame.

Agon turned around, probably having caught a flash of movement in his peripheral vision, and easily, _triumphantly_, caught onto Sena's fist.

His smirk dissolved away upon realizing it had been Sena, not some vindictive team mate, who had tried to sneak attack him. But Sena had seen it and felt himself bristle at the knowledge that Agon was really _enjoying_ this.

"Sena, what the hell-"

Sena attempted a hit with his left hand, but was as unsuccessful as the first time he tried. He struggled, desperately trying to pull his hands out of Agon's iron grip, finding himself getting angrier with every failed attempt.

Maybe this was some sort of karma at work, he'd never really tried too hard to stop Agon's violent tendencies before, and now that he finally was earnestly trying to do something about it he was absolutely useless.

"Seriously, what's gotten into you mister 'I'm not inclined to violence'?" Agon asked, more amused than curious, and Sena paused at the tone, glaring up at the older boy darkly.

"Agon-san, you... _You fucking bastard!_" He wrenched both of his hands back and at the same time kicked forward.

A kick to the shin didn't seem like something to be proud about, but Agon hadn't seen it coming so he couldn't dodge it and he'd actually looked _surprised_ when he felt the hit, and that was enough to make Sena feel like he'd managed a dozen victories.

The excessive boiling of anger had begun to fade, leaving him with a steady burn of the negative feeling and enough leftover mindless courage to ignore how he was the center of attention.

Agon was quick to recover from his shock of getting kicked, but not quickly enough to keep Sena's hands in his grasp when the brunette yanked them away.

"You just-! You're such a-! _Damn it!_ I can't deal with you anymore!" He turned and stomped off, knowing that Agon wouldn't risk his pride by following him or questioning him further.

Kakei had already escorted Mizumachi off the field and was speaking quickly into his cell phone, eyes locked on his blonde companion. As Sena passed by he wondered how he'd react if someone purposefully hurt one of his _team mates,_ his _closest_ friends, during a game, and just the thought of it made him _seethe_.

He kept walking, digging his heels into the ground with unnecessary force on every stride forward, until he knew he was completely out of sight.

He broke into a run as soon as he left the school grounds, his feet hitting the pavement hard as he attempted to release the pent-up anger that was still steadily burning inside of him.

He only stopped when he reached the train station, and even then only because he had to, and he spent the majority of the train ride back home trying to calm himself down further.

Then his ring tone went off, and the caller ID displayed the name he didn't even want to _think_ about now. He turned his cell phone off and shoved it into the bottom of his school bag, intent on leaving it off until he was certain Agon wouldn't try to contact him anymore.

The call had distressed him again though, so once he got off the train at his stop he lingered around the area, walking in circles for nearly half an hour, not wanting to arrive home until he was calm enough to not raise questions.

By the time he finally did deem himself calm enough it was already dark and if his mother had tried to call him to figure out where he was he'd be getting a earful about responsibility, but anything was better than having to be aware that Agon wanted to talk to him after the stunt he pulled, probably to make a lame excuse.

"I'm home."

"Welcome back, I'll have dinner ready in just a minute." His mother called from the kitchen. "Agon-kun phoned just a couple minutes ago to see if you were home yet."

Sena let his school bag drop to the floor and kicked off his shoes while his mother, curious about his lack of response, peaked her head out of the doorway.

"... Aren't you going to call him back?"

"No." Sena made his way upstairs to wash up. "And if he calls again tell him I'm not home." He added on as an after thought, and not a moment too soon because the phone began to ring seconds later, and Sena just _knew_ who was calling.

He came down several minutes later but couldn't seem work up an appetite, not to mention the tense aura that surrounded him, which was as noticeable as a flashing neon sign over his head, prompted his mother to ask him what was wrong every couple of minutes, despite Sena's assurance that it was nothing each time.

He couldn't tell his parents about this, his mother was_ friends _with Agon's mother, she was the reason why he knew him in the first place. But he didn't know if there was anyone else he could talk to about it. Too many of his friends knew what Agon was like and would probably end up patting him on the back for standing up to the older boy the way he did.

Sena didn't _want_ that, he wanted to turn back time and make himself react as soon as he knew Agon had said something that would insult the Kyoshin players and make Mizumachi act irrational.

'I'm such an idiot.' He sighed and excused himself from the table, journeying up to his room slowly and falling onto his bed, ignoring the homework that was stashed away in his school bag downstairs.

He wouldn't have been able to concentrate on it anyways.

It seemed as if, over the years, he'd convinced himself that Agon really wasn't that bad, just rough around the edges. Agon crossed the line _all the time_, he'd even crossed the line with Marco, but Sena could still remember the terror he'd felt when he first met Agon, and Marco, while a bit shaken, had been fine, so he'd selfishly kept himself from telling the older boy to smarten up because his attitude needed some major adjusting.

And now Agon hadn't just crossed the line, he was running rampant on the other side.

It was rather like jumping into the ocean in the middle of winter, an uncomfortable shock that he'd never be able to forget. Agon had always been this bad, he'd just ignored it.

Well, not anymore, he _couldn't_ ignore it anymore.

"Agon-san, you_ idiot_."

He woke up feeling awful and refused to even try to sleep some more, because he had a feeling he'd only toss and turn around anyways. He got ready for school, going through the motions automatically as his mind raced, making plans to find out which hospital Mizumachi was at, what his room number was, and he stepped outside mentally making preparations to visit the blonde with Kakei.

Out of habit he went to the clubhouse instead of his classroom, despite the fact that there was no morning practice that day, and he wasn't surprised in the least when he found Hiruma inside, several strategy cards in his hand.

Hiruma's ears twitched a little at the sound of the door opening and closing, but he didn't bother looking up. "Feeling anxious about the game against the Nagas?"

Sena frowned. "Anxious isn't the word I would use."

Hiruma set down the cards he'd been looking through, cocking an eyebrow as he glanced in Sena's direction; briefly noting his posture, clenched fists and expression before turning fully towards him.

"You left after practice in a hurry yesterday, had somewhere to go, did you?"

Sena didn't reply vocally, but Hiruma was good enough at reading people to not need words.

"I heard that the Kyoshin team was at Shinryuji for a scrimmage, how did that end, I wonder?"

Sena pressed his lips tightly together at the memory.

Hiruma sighed. "Look, I hate all that fucking mushy _let's talk about our feelings_ stuff even _more_ than the next guy, but emotions will mess with your game play, and you'll feel better if you get whatever is bothering you off your chest. Plus I'm _conveniently_ here right now, and you _conveniently_ came almost an hour before school starts. Either you subconsciously want to talk about it, or I'm reading the signs all wrong." Hiruma crossed his legs and leaned back into his chair, an unsaid 'I never read the signs wrong' hanging in the air between them.

And, as if Sena had been waiting for Hiruma to give the go ahead, the whole story suddenly began spilling from his lips in a rambling, quick way because he wanted to tell Hiruma_ everything_ before he figured it out on his own.

He was extremely grateful that when he got to the part where he kicked Agon in the shin Hiruma didn't even _have_ a smirk to try and hold back, the blonde just continued to listen with as much seriousness as ever.

"And that's how it is." Sena finished with a sigh, remembering the incident in full detail had brought back some of the anger he had felt, but that emotion had become entirely overshadowed by guilt.

"You think that you could have somehow stopped him if you reacted sooner." Hiruma stated instead of asked, knowing full well that he was right even before Sena nodded.

"Well, you wouldn't have been able to, when fucking dreads is dead set on something very little can stop him, nothing would have changed if you charged in at the first signs of danger."

Sena swallowed dryly at Hiruma's straightforwardness, and couldn't find it in himself to disagree.

"It's just the shock making you feel guilty, you didn't think Agon would take it that far, once you calm down and get over it you'll realize it wasn't your fault."

That sounded reasonable, but... "I don't know if I can get over it."

Hiruma's gaze drifted back to his cards. "The past can't be changed Sena, you just need to learn from your experiences and look towards the future, prepared for anything."

"... That sounded very philosophical of you."

Hiruma finally broke out into a smirk, the familiar expression somehow lulling Sena into a calmer state.

"Well, I'd better get going to class, I didn't finish my homework last night because I was too worked up." Sena began retracing his steps but paused at the door, turning to look over his shoulder curiously.

"How did you know that I was at the scrimmage? I could have gone anywhere."

Hiruma's smirk widened. "I saw fucking dreads yesterday, he looked more pissed off than usual even though there was a cute girl present, I figured something must have happened between you two."

Sena opened his mouth to ask how exactly he'd known Agon's moodiness was somehow related to him, but abruptly snapped it shut.

On second thought, he didn't think he wanted to know.

He somehow managed to finish his homework before classes began and push all unpleasant thoughts about Agon out of his mind until football practice was set to start, because the sport was just an imminent reminder of what had happened.

"Alright! Let's beat Shinryuji!" Monta yelled, pumping a fist into the air excitedly as they exited the clubhouse.

"Let's show him who's boss!" Sena called immediately afterwards, prompting Monta to pause and turn to him.

"Sena, it's wicked awesome to the max that you're excited too, but don't you mean show 'them' who's boss?"

"Oh, right, how silly of me." Sena nervously chuckled and Monta quickly went back to his normal, exuberant self.

They had been carrying a set of practice dummies towards the field when the receiver excitedly recommended that they draw Ikkyu and Agon's faces on them.

The suggestion probably thrilled Sena a lot more than it ought to, be he found he didn't care.

"We'll have to get a pen."


	116. Chapter 116

FASH: How was everyone's first weeks of school? Hopefully I'll settle back into the swing of things soon, my film teacher assigned us a huge project right from the get go, so I've been doing a bunch of pre-production on top of my other homework. Sorry it's short, but I need to focus on other stuff at the moment.

""-speech

''-thoughts

"You know, you seem kinda excited for some reason." Monta mused aloud as he and Sena made their way back to the club house to grab a pen.

"Oh, really?" Sena smiled brightly, but the effect was somewhat chilling. "I suppose I'm just really pumped up to show the Gods of Kantou what we're made of!" And to take out his anger on an Agon-faced dummy.

Sena reached for the door handle, pausing when he heard Doburoku's voice coming from inside. The sound wasn't very clear, and the ambient noises around the school-yard weren't exactly helping matters, but as he and Monta pressed their ears up against the door the faint sound of the older man's words became audible.

"Our one slight hope of winning, the one who holds the key, Yukimitsu, is you!"

Sena and Monta pulled away from the door and shared an excited look before leaning back in, straining their ears to catch Yukimitsu's response. It was just their luck that Hiruma chose that moment to appear and shoot some sort of dark liquid at them with a pair of highly pressurized water guns.

"What the..." Monta sniffed at his arm curiously. "Is this some kind of sauce?"

Sena tensed up, an ominous feeling overtaking him as he slowly turned around to see Cerberus miraculously holding a knife and fork and scraping them together as if he were about to have dinner.

Needless to say he and Monta started running like two bats out of hell, although Monta started to fall behind without Sena noticing, too wrapped up in his own thoughts.

"Yuki-san's gonna play! This time we'll have all the Devil Bats! The whole team!"

He was too high up on cloud nine to hear Toganou reply, referring to the fallen Monta. "Not this one. He's dead."

Practice had been amazing, although Monta still had several vivid bite marks on his arms, and Mamori had been so kind as to doodle Naga players onto the practice dummies. Sena hadn't been able to get a chance to practice on the Agon dummy, but he didn't want to bring up too much attention to his current predicament, so he bided his time.

There was always tomorrow, and the day after that, and the day after that...

Of course having to see the (badly) drawn but still unmistakable Agon just made him think about Mizumachi, which made him wonder which hospital he'd been taken to, and how could he visit the blonde when the only way he knew how to contact the Kyoshin players was to actually go to their school.

Thankfully he had a go-to guy for this sort of situation.

"_Hiruma-san._"

Hiruma glanced up at him, raising an eyebrow at the suspiciously innocent tone Sena used. Practice had finished not too long ago, but Sena had been, quite obviously, lingering around, slowly re-organizing the contents of his locker until everyone else had left.

"What?" Hiruma asked, not so much suspicious as intrigued.

"When you put people down in your Devil's Handbooks, you put their contact information down too, right?"

"Of course, that's one of the first things I find out. Why?"

"I need Kakei-kun's phone number."

And, just like that, Hiruma obligingly began flipping through that various books he kept on him at all times, finally stopping at the one with 'Kyoshin' marked on the front and flipping through the first couple of pages.

"You're not going to ask me why I need it?" Sena asked, slightly surprised that Hiruma was just going with the flow.

"It's not as if I can't make an _educated_ guess."

How scarily true.

"While we're at it, did you want his home address?"

"Uh, no. That seems a bit too stalker-ish."

"Too bad, if you left in a couple of minutes you could intercept him before he reached his house and do some of that face to face chatting that you seem so fond of. All the hospitals in this area cut off their visiting hours at the same time after all, so it's easy to predict what train he'd get on to go home, and from then on it's a piece of cake to figure out how long it would take to walk from the station to his house."

Sena stared for a moment before sighing.

"All right, give me his address too."

Kakei looked more than a little surprised to see him, leaning against a fence a block away from his house, waiting for him like some sort of _stalker_.

Maybe he should have just called him after all, but it was too late now, he may as well get right to business.

"How is Mizumachi-kun doing?"

Kakei blinked at him, as if the sudden question was utterly shocking, although it was more than likely because he hadn't expected to see Sena _at all_, but he quickly got over his bewilderment.

"Annoyingly well, you'd think he was in the hospital to visit people instead of needing medical attention with the way he's acting." Kakei said with a roll of his eyes and a fond smile.

Sena sighed in relief, Mizumachi was sort of like a perpetual ray of sunshine, getting depressed didn't suit him. "It's good that he's not moping about."

"He's a handful though, so Nurse Oka keeps threatening to curse him."

"Ah, yes, she tends to do that, doesn't she?"

"Thankfully he listens to her whenever she's in that mindset, otherwise the other patients would go crazy."

"That's because it's really easy to believe that she'll actually curse people." Sena shuddered for emphasis.

"Maybe I should study the occult in order to keep him under control when he's released."

Sena lightly slapped Kakei's arm. "Don't joke about things like that, if you turned into a male version of Nurse Oka you'd cause panic attacks. When you stare people down it's scary, trust me. But, getting back to my original purpose here, do you think I could go with you the next time you visit Mizumachi-kun?"

"That would be nice..." Kakei trailed off and glanced away.

"Why do I sense an unsaid 'however'?"

"If you come visit him, he'll probably reprimand you for not using your free time to train more."

"Really? Then how do you get away with it?"

"I told him Nurse Oka will curse me if I don't come to visit him." Kakei replied with a completely straight face.

"... You're not kidding, are you?"

"I'm utterly serious."

Sena attempted to stifle his oncoming laughter with a hand without much luck, and it took several long moments for him to pull himself back together.

"I'm sure he'll find a way to temporarily escape from the hospital for your game though, so you can see him then, and if you really want to do something to cheer him up just do your best."

Sena's face went blank, his previous mirth all but forgotten. "Oh, I plan to, and we're going to win too."

He was going to force Agon to realize he wasn't all that and give him a healthy dose of humility while he was at it.

"You seem a lot more confident then before." Kakei commented, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. "It's good that you're playing to win, but if you don't mind my asking, how do you know I live around here?"

And just like that Sena's confident mask broke away to make room for _sheer embarrassment_ and he stuttered for a moment before mumbling things about Hiruma under his breath until Kakei, with a smile, told him he understood and assured him that if he ever wanted to visit again, he could actually come _into_ the house.

Sena left not too long afterwards, mostly content, but just a little distraught with the knowledge that it would be almost a full week until he could covertly check up on blonde, but he supposed Kakei knew best. Besides, seeing Mizumachi in the hospital would probably get him all riled up again, and he just wasn't _used_ to being angry for long periods of time. He was borderline vengeful, if the practice dummy with Agon's face drawn on was any indication, so it was probably in his best interests to try and push Agon out of his mind and focus on his training, otherwise who knew what would happen the next time he saw the dread head in person.

Of course even if he threw himself completely into his training, working hard to condition his legs so that they wouldn't go numb every time he did his four point two second run without Cerberus chasing him, it wasn't as if he could just forget about Agon until the game.

Especially when his mother thought they should make up as soon as possible.

In the morning she had been making vague suggestions that he should call Agon and talk things out, which he'd passively shrugged at while hoping that she'd drop the subject after a while. Apparently having the entire day to stew over things had only made her more determined that they bury the hatchet, because the first thing she said to him as soon as he walked through the door was:

"Agon-kun called again."

Sena paused, turned to give her a questioning look, and shrugged. "Oh."

"I'm not sure what happened between you two that makes you keep ignoring him, but you're old friends, you should talk over these things." She reprimanded with a sigh, as if Sena were doing something particularly childish.

"I don't want to talk about it, some things are just common sense." Sena crossed his arms and frowned stubbornly.

She tapped at her chin, squinting up at the ceiling for a moment before responding. "Well, Agon-kun doesn't have much common sense, right?"

"... Huh?"

So an adult actually realized that as well?

"Because he's been spoiled for so long and he's used to getting his way, so you need to explain to him what he's done wrong, otherwise he won't understand."

"Oh no, he understands, some things should be obvious no matter what."

His mother tilted her head curiously. "Sena, what exactly did Agon-kun do?"

Not too keen on telling the outright truth, he passively waved his hand. "Nothing you need to be concerned about, everything will sort itself out sooner or later."

"Ah, that's wonderful." Her smile was suddenly suspiciously bright and, as a woman who prided herself in her involvement in her son's life, that meant something was up.

"... Mom, what did you do?"

"I told him he should come over tomorrow so you two could sort things out. Honestly, you're almost adults, so talk things over instead of just giving him the silent treatment."

"B-but I don't _want _to talk to him!"

"But you _need_ to, otherwise you're never going to make peace."

Sena bit his lip and took a deep breath, knowing all too well that once his mother set her mind on something nothing was going to stop her.

So he nodded in silent consent, walked up to his room, buried his face in his pillow, and screamed.

The following day the tension around him was so thick you could cut it with a knife, and it just got worse during practice when he finally got to train against the Agon dummy and Hiruma kept on sending him those all-knowing looks.

By the time he came home he felt on the verge of insanity, and it was only because he expected it that he didn't go crazy when he saw Agon _ever so calmly_ sitting on a couch in the living room.

"Yo."

Sena's answer was a very audible deep breath, which Agon had the nerve to raise his eyebrows at.

"Alright, you want to talk, we'll talk, but not where my mom can hear us."


	117. Chapter 117

FASH: Hey, long time no see, I haven't fallen off the face of the Earth (yet), but I'm still really busy. The next chapter I upload will hopefully contain the entire game against the Nagas and whatever happens afterwards, but I'm not sure when I'll manage to get it up.

""-speech

''-thoughts

Sena flicked his hand in a quick 'follow me' gesture before making his way to the front door, Agon trailing behind him, smirking in a familiar, infuriating fashion.

"And where exactly are we going?" He asked, apparently amused at Sena's behaviour.

Sena turned and blandly answered: "Outside."

Because he had the distinct feeling that if he just lead Agon up to his room, his mother would hover around the closed door and listen in.

And if he happened to lead Agon far enough away that none of the neighbours would be able to see them, hear them, and spread rumours that got back to his mother, well, then that would just be good planning on his part.

When he finally figured they were far enough from his house he abruptly pivoted around and stared up at the older boy, trying to figure out what he should say to begin with.

Agon rose an eyebrow at his silence and Sena blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

"Have I told you what a nuisance you're being lately?" He asked and immediately regretted it when Agon just rose his other eyebrow in response.

'Nuisance' was a word you'd use to describe a yappy dog, or a cat that enjoyed sharpening it's claws on the furniture a little too much. Agon had been a whole lot more than a nuisance.

"And by nuisance, I mean lowlife."

"I think I managed to catch on to that train of thought when you stormed off of the field." Agon replied, shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly.

"And you do _understand_ why my opinion of you has dropped, right? And if you say something like 'you're being too sensitive' I swear I'll kick your ass!"

Agon didn't bother holding back his chuckle, apparently finding the thought laughable.

Sena, already being on a behemoth of a roller coaster of emotions as it was, predictably took a turn for the worst.

"_What_ exactly is so funny?"

Agon gave him a look as if to say: 'as if you don't know.'

"Just looking at me isn't an answer."

"Come on Sena, even with the advantage of surprise on your side you wouldn't be able to take me down, I'd see you coming." Agon tapped at the rims of his sunglasses. "And since you're the only decent player on your team, well, the outcome of our game is obvious. I bet you won't even be able to score one touchdown."

Sena frowned and planted his hands on his hips. He wasn't usually one for betting, but he was going to make an exception for this.

"_When_ my team wins, I'm going to make you apologize to Mizumachi-kun. _Sincerely_ apologize."

Agon paused and stared at him for a moment before raising an eyebrow. "Oh? What do I get _when_ I win?"

"Oh, uh." He hadn't really thought of that, since he _was_ going to win no matter _what_. "I don't know, if you guys win I suppose I'll do whatever you want."

Agon's face went completely blank, like someone had just hit his 'off' switch.

"Don't just promise to do whatever someone wants, think things over thoroughly."

"But we're going to win, so I can't think of anything to offer. Even attempting to think of something would mean I think there's a possibility we'll lose, so I'll just promise to do whatever you want."

"Don't be reckless, what if you were making this sort of bet with a pervert?!"

"You are a pervert, so stop changing the subject."

"Not with guys!"

"A pervert's still a pervert no matter what their preference." Sena responded firmly. "And now that we've cleared that matter up, leave."

"Why?" Agon asked and Sena was beginning to think he was being annoying on purpose.

"Because I don't want to talk to you anymore." Obviously.

"Jeez, you take thing too seriously." Agon folded his hands behind his head, completely at ease.

"You aren't taking things seriously enough. You sent one of my friends to the hospital Agon-san, and I will _make_ you apologize for it." Sena crossed his arms and glared harshly at the older boy who seemed irritatingly amused at his behaviour.

Why wasn't Agon taking him seriously?! He would have hit him again, but the dread head would definitely see it coming and stop it before it connected.

'This is so annoying.' Sena's glare hardened and instead of saying anything else that Agon could likely poke fun at he silently turned around and walked back to his house. Agon, _thankfully_, seemed to understand that the conversation was over and didn't bother following after him.

It was when he reached his room that he realized that he'd been too irritated and eager to leave to remember to ask Agon if their bet was on, despite the way Agon had reacted upon hearing what he'd get if the Nagas won.

'God, I'm such an _idiot _sometimes.'

It was the second night Sena felt the need to scream into his pillow, although this time around it was because he was frustrated with himself.

All this stress _couldn't_ be good for him.

Practice became not only a way to improve himself, but also a way to work off his aggravation, which spiked whenever Hiruma sent a knowing glance in his direction.

Hiruma's educated guesses were way too close to the truth, and it made Sena wonder if he should start checking his clothing to make sure he hadn't been bugged.

His mother was in a tizzy by the time he got home from practice the day before the game and babbled on about friends doomed to be on different sides of the battlefield.

He and his father had shared a glance, but didn't bother trying to stop her tirade.

He went to bed early, but could seem to drift off no matter how many minutes passed by. He hadn't found it this hard to get to sleep before a game in a long time, probably because he was giving himself a bunch of extra stress due to the bet whose terms he wasn't even sure had been agreed upon by the other party. Which meant that he'd have to _briefly_ talk with Agon before the game and make him agree with it.

'I'm not sure how I'll manage to do that without someone else finding out about it though. How troublesome...' He shifted onto his side, laying like that for less than a minute before tossing back over.

Then his phone began to vibrate, indicating that he'd received a text message.

For a moment he thought it was Agon, since it had been previously proven that the dread head had no qualms about contacting him late at night or early in the morning, then he looked at the screen and saw it was from Suzuna.

He quickly tried to squash down the slight (completely unnecessary) disappointed feeling that had somehow wormed it's way inside him as he read the message which was asking, straight to the point, if he was freaking out because of the Shinryuji match.

He pursed his lips and quickly replied that he wasn't freaking out, he'd acted weird on the way home for reasons that couldn't be disclosed.

He wasn't entirely surprised when Suzuna's reply was: '_So if you told someone, you'd have to kill them?_'

He laughed softly to himself and replied: '_Maybe, unless they were trustworthy enough._'

'_Am I trustworthy enough?_'

Sena paused, the only person he thought he may _have_ to tell the entire story to was Hiruma, in case his 'educated guesses' started, probably purposefully, drifting further and further away from the truth. But Suzuna was pretty good at keeping her lips sealed, although writing everything down in a text message would take way too much time.

He did want to get _some_ sleep tonight, after all.

'_I suppose I could tell you tomorrow, if you're still curious about it. For now I'd better get some sleep._'

She quickly messaged him back telling him to get lots of rest and Sena, not bothering to turn off the phone, put it back on his bedside table. He was still feeling a little (inexplicably, and completely opposite to what he should be feeling) disappointed that it hadn't been Agon to text him, even when he told himself, quite convincingly, that he shouldn't feel that way.

Why should he care if it was Agon or not? Other than for the fact it would have been easier to deal with him now, not face to face. And once that was done with he wouldn't have to worry about any other awkward confrontations.

... Except for when he met up with Maruko, who Marco may or may not have informed about Sena's distinctively masculine chest.

But it was best not to think about that right now.

'Go to sleep, go to sleep.' Was the constantly looping mantra in his head, and he'd repeated it dozens of times when he finally began to drift off.

The next day was gorgeous, with a sky so blue it seemed like something out of dream, and clouds as light and fluffy as cotton, and on the opposite side of the field Agon was changing...

'Wait a minute, Agon-san is here already?' Sena squinted at the figure on the other side of the field, just to make sure it was Agon and not, say, Unsui wearing a wig and sunglasses.

Agon, on time? Early, even. And he seemed more intense than usual.

'Could it be that he's actually taking this seriously?' Just the thought of playing against a serious Agon sent shivers of anticipation down Sena's spine, no matter how frustrating the older boy was the majority of the time.

He was still staring in his direction when Agon turned his way. Their eyes met, and even from across the field Sena could spot the wicked smirk curling on the edge of Agon's lips. His body language practically screamed confidence, but it was one small gesture, a daring, almost playful, tilt of the head that told Sena everything he needed to know.

The bet was on.


End file.
